What does a unattached college graduate get when you can't afford a dog or cat and want to color outside the lines a little bit? A Hedgehog, naturally! Ok, I admit I get a decent number of raised eyebrows in bewilderment when I tell my friends I now have a Hedgehog as a pet.
Hedgehogs actually make great pets for anyone in this phase of life. They sleep for practically 20 hours a day, require minimal space or hands-on care, eat in small quantities and are naturally very clean critters. Essentially, I have the best of both worlds; I don't feel guilty leaving her to her sleeping bag while I'm at work, but it's nice to have a small little someone to come home to at the end of the day. Plus who couldn't love this sweet little face! Her quills take a little getting used to, but it's only as prickly as it would be handling a cactus. I guess it helps that I have a strong ability to endure pain. It also takes a bit of patience and determination because Hedgehogs are rather shy, but they become more comfortable after they are more familiar with you and your surroundings.
Enough about the specifics of Hedgehog care, I want to introduce you to my little one. This is Thistle. As you can see in the picture above, she absolutely LOVES her sleeping bag. She's a little over a month old, so she's still skittish and shy around sudden noises. Phoebe, our English Springer Spaniel definitely doesn't help. She's taken a keen interest in Thistle because she just can't seem to figure her out. Every time Phoebe comes near, Thistle balls up and does her little "huffing & puffing" routine, so all Phoebe gets to see is a ball full of spikes. I'm enjoying this particularly because Phoebe will occasionally insist on sleeping in my room with me so she can keep an eye on this little mystery. Phoebe's intense curiosity over Thistle would make a great children's book, actually.
As I start to think more about my interaction with Thistle, my descriptions sound pretty boring. It's not much more than pulling her out of her cage, watching her sniff around and then most likely she'll falling asleep in the folds of my clothes. If you're looking for action and adventure, Hedgehogs are not your cup of tea. At this point in my relatively new hedgehog ownership, it's more the simple enjoyment of watching and learning her little behaviors or quirks. Thistle has a rather calming affect on me actually. In order to enjoy my time with her, I have to slow down my life and the million thoughts whirling in my mind and focus my attention primarily on her. After that, all my current obligations start to seem inconsequential. My stresses? They're just self-imposed. Life all of a sudden seems so simple.
I'm hoping as I take these little breaks from life with Thistle, I can start to gleam more from my Hedgehog ownership. There are these videos on Youtube of pet Hedgehogs swimming and lazily floating when they get a bath and it's hilarious! I'll let you know if I ever get to that point with Thistle. But for now, I'm perfectly happy with our cold Autumn nights, wrapped in a warm blanket with a movie and a sleeping hedgehog in my sweater pocket.
