The Hedgehogs of Surrey

Had a great lead-in for this new series today. . .I actually got to pet a hedgehog! Simon Cowell of Wildlife Aid (and the 11yr TV series 'Wildlife SOS') was at the kids school today as they were picked as the schools charity for the year. He brought along a little friend for everyone to meet and I got to talk to Simon and pet the hedgie.

This brings me to introduce a new letterbox series ' The Hedgehogs of Surrey'. I have a handful of hedgehog stamps carved by US letterboxing friends. Each has been given a name, and I will be hiding them around Surrey. Collect them all! Since I want to spread them out across the county, it will take some time to place every one. So stay tuned if you're keen to get them!

Oh, and for the record, hedgehogs are quite small - can fit in your 2 hands together. Their spines aren't too spikey actually. They feel more like a coarse scrub brush. Interestingly, in relation to my last post, hedgehogs can get FMD too! Look at this notice from Wildlife Aid's website:

"Following a further local outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease, we must comply with the following DEFRA advice:

With immediate effect and until further notice Wildlife Aid will be unable to take in either hedgehogs or deer. Please do not attempt to bring either species to the hospital but call for advice instead.

We can still attend call-outs for both hedgehogs and deer within the exclusion zone, but as certain restrictions are in place concerning the treatment and movement of these animals we will deal with requests on a case-by case basis. Again please call for advice.

We suggest if you need help with injured deer or hedgehog that you call Defra on 08459 335577. We apologise for this inconvenience but hope you understand the situation."

So, in support of the cute little hedgehogs who used to only have to be concerned with badgers getting them, and now are getting destroyed by man, look for the upcoming Surrey Hedgehog series.

Want to HEAR a hedgehog? Go here: http://gardensafari.net/english/hedgehogs.htm

FMD - It's Baaaaccckkk!

Just when you thought it was safe. Just when Bessie started talking to Elsie over the the fence again. Foot and Mouth is back. As your on the scene (relatively speaking) local, we're facing another bout of this dreaded disease down here. Boo. The latest outbreak is fairly close to both Windsor and Heathrow. In fact, the geocache I found last week by Windsor Great Park is now unavailable because of FMD precautions in that area. (Oh no, do you think the Queen picked it up? One of the corgis? :)


The red surveillance zone signs only came down this past Monday from the last round. Then, 2 days later, it's found somewhere else. Last I heard, they were fingering a truck that picked it up on its tires at the Pirbright lab and then 'deposited' (for lack of a more entertaining work) it on the farm. Hmmm. I bet there's going to be in lawsuit in that one.

I'm still thinking the widespread use of farmlands for walking is a contributing factor. In the states, you're not allowed to walk across someone's field. Trespassing. In the UK, you can walk anywhere nearly. It's really fantastic, but hopefully not causing any harm.

Regardless, I'm still getting messages from my mom in the states saying, "Don't eat the beef!"

Come Letterbox on Dartmoor (2005)

Haven't been to Dartmoor, you say?
Well, tag along and see what it's like. . .

First UK Geocache & Waymark

We had our first UK geocache find today near Great Windsor Park. Yeah! It was a quick easy walk and the ammo can container was easy to

spot and filled with swag. We didn't take anything, but left a travel bug (which was created in our honor!) from Texas.

Then we did a quick stop at Ascot Racecourse (I'm still trying to figure out which house is Rod Stewarts - you pass it as you come into Ascot) to take a picture and get the gps coordinates to list it as a waymark. I really like doing the waymarking. But not really 'visiting' ones that have already been listed. I like finding and entering new ones. I'm trying to get up to 50 this month.

So, all in all a nice day. And it was with blue skies and temps in the mid 70s. :)

Ordnance Survey Maps - Part 1

This begins my journey of understanding the GB Grid System and Ordnance Survey Maps. I fully admit to being a newbie on this subject. But hopefully I'll stumble along and find my way. :)

If you do a search for the ordnance survey maps, you'll find that you can purchase them at a number of places. Online and on-site at various parks (although the ones at the parks will normally only be the map for their area which may or may not be what you are after).

I already had the OS 28 map for Dartmoor. So I purchased the OS map for my area. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be many letterboxes around here, so I won't get much experience with mapping out clues on it. But as it is likely to get a fair amount of use in just getting us from point A to point B, I opted for the laminated version. I suspect the laminated version of OS 28 would be quite desirable if you plan on using the clues in the Dartmoor letterbox catalogue. It appears you have to draw things out when orienting yourself to box locations. (More on this when I get to Dartmoor next time and try it out). And also the laminated version (or even a map cover will work if the the laminated version doesn't work for you) will keep from ruining your map on a rainy day.

Next, I've been searching for some online aids on using the maps. I found this to be very helpful on at least understanding the grid system: www.sutton.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6B712C9F-1CB0-4873-9012-D0ACFECB7F92/0/map_reading_made_easy.pdf -

Now that I have a map and an understanding of the grid system, let's try to understand how letterbox clues are written and how to find them on a map. . .coming in Part 2.

Hoof and Mouth

What is this Hoof and Mouth disease? Where is it?

I was surpised to find out that the farm where the lastest outbreak took place is less than 15 miles from our house. As is the Pirbright lab where it 'escaped' from. . .yikes!

Although F&M is a highly contagious disease, it is rare in humans. Mostly it affects cows and pigs, but other hooved animals too. Besides the suffering of the animals, they usually end up being euthanized even if they survive the disease. The only way they can control it is to kill the infected animals and stop the spread. So, it seems like the Pirbright 'Institute of Animal Health' which is a leader in the study of H&M, is trying to do the right thing by developing vaccinations. But when things escape their labs, you've got to wonder. What if something escaped from Atlanta's CDC? In a major city. Ahhhhh! (Okay, I admit I've read 'The Stand').

Still I'm just finding it odd that H&M keeps popping up over here. Is it the walkers going across farmland? Why doesn't the US have outbreaks? You gotta wonder.

OT - I Hate Washing

Okay, this is another rant about my new nemisis - the washing & dryer machines. I used to have a big washing machine. A big dryer. You could put gobs of clothes in. And everything would come out just great. I mean, jeans didn't come out completely wrinkle-free, but they didn't come out looking like you had stuffed them in a bag while wet either. I tried the advice given of removing half the load before drying. Maybe it's just these machines. Maybe it's just me. But they didn't come out with much improvement.

But here, I hate washing the clothes. EVERYTHING comes looking wrinkled. As my sister in law said, "the problem with washer/dryer combo machines is that they don't seem to do either very well". Yep. That sums it up. So, I checked out new machines at the store. Oh my gosh. They are all small! All of them! No wonder things come out wrinkled. There's no room in the dryers for items to tumble. Boo. Boo. Boo.

On a further interesting note, I did go out to buy an iron. I can't recall the last time I used an iron actually. Back in the states, we took our 'good' clothes to the dry cleaners and the rest were fine at home. So, imagine my surprise when I saw the irons in the local appliance/electronic store. There must have been 25 different irons! 25! What?! In Houston, I think I would see like 5 in a store. 5. There. See. Why do people need so many irons? Because the appliances can't do the job here!! Ha.

Okay, so now I'm going to dig around the internet and see if I can find a suped up unit from the US. Then I'm going to import US appliances for UK consumers. Then I'm going to start up a rubbish pickup service where they pick up ALL your trash. And then. . .and then. . .

Oh what the heck. You gotta take the bad with the good sometime. :)