Hedgehogs

When I was a kid and I was at my grandmother's village in summertime, every so often we would find a hedgehog in the forest while picking berries or mushrooms. Sometimes, my grandmother would bring a hedgehog home. Hedgehogs are silly animals - they rely on their needles, or spines, for protection, by rolling in a ball. This may deter some forest predators, but it is very easy to pick up a hedgehog and put it in a basket.

My grandmother would bring a hedgehog home, just for a day, and place it in the corridor. Eventually, a hedgehog would start unrolling, sticking its snout out and checking out that it's safe. Hedgehogs can supposedly eat small snakes, although I have never seen it. We would give it some milk and bread. Hedgehogs like milk.

At night, the hedgehog would make a weird sniffling noise, and we would discover corridor completely trashed in the morning. Papers, small objects and breadcrumbs would lie around the floor. Hedgehogs are nocturnal, that is, they stay awake at night and sleep at daytime.

All and all, I don't think hedgehogs make good pets. They are curious and unruly, and like to roll in a ball. To unroll a hedgehog, you can throw it in a basin of water, where it would immediately unroll and start swimming. In addition to being stupid, hedgehogs are prone to a hedgehog disease WHS - Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome.

There are no wild hedgehogs in North America. I do miss seeing hedgehogs sometimes. Despite its lack of intelligence, it is one of my favourite animals.