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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Diego!

Meet Diego. He was one of many pets we have had over the years. Annie had a friend who's family raised Hedgehogs and she developed an interest and love for these spiky little critters. Diego was the rut of a litter and was given to her.

Recently I read a post from "Over The Fence". Linda had written a great piece on family pets. If I attempted this, it would be a novel. I have had many, many four legged critters, as well as feathered and reptile buddies. Oh and lest we forget the fish!

Anyway, Linda's post got me thinking about some of the more interesting critters we have had. Having a Hedgehog was always a conversation starter. He traveled to school with Emily & Annie, "worked" with me at Holy Spirit's After School program, and entertained many family and friends.

Diego was a great sport. He would let us dress him up in Barbie hats, ride in Barbie cars, and play in doll castles. The cats & dogs never bothered him. Curious at first, but soon enough understood this little guy has quite the defensive mechanism of curling into a ball, hissing and jerking into evil little stings of his quills. (He is not related to a porcupine, so not he did not spray the quills out, they stung more like cat scratch fever does when you get scratched).

Hedgehogs do not make the best pets. They are nocturnal, therefore, can't stay in a child's bedroom as they play all night and sleep most the day. They also are fragile and not recommended for children under eight, or anyone that is not as careful and patient as we were. Not the most affectionate, yet he tolerated us and live a pampered full life. Diego is no longer with us. He passed away a few years back. Still, he will forever hold a spot in our hearts.

3 comments:

An English Shepherd said...

I havent met any Hedgehogs yet like Diego,lots of Foxes around here however :-)

Zion Girl said...

Never had a hedgehog but.... as a child growing up on a farm in southeastern Iowa I had lots of other weird pets. Just to name a few: a fox named Bingo (how original)and a pet skunk that we had decologned and of course his name was cologne. I have home movies of me walking in the local parade with the skunk in a cage in the wagon. Too Funny........

Anonymous said...

He's a cutie. Out here in northern Brown Co. we see all kinds of wild life everyday. We feed everything out here. We hatched over 20 ducks at one time. Trying to keep up with that many was a chore. Monday 2-23-09 looked out back as I do often and there was a Bald Eagle perched a top of one of our trees. He then flew down to the edge of the pond and started eating a dead fish. Beautiful site. Took plenty of pictures. It is Thursday 2-26-09 He has been back everyday since Monday.
H.B.