Stories of pet companionship can be so endearing. Really nice to hear this one – thanks for sharing it.
Something about rescuing an animal that has a decent amount of intelligence… like a cat, dog, bird… it amazes me how some can show what appears to be serious appreciation. Like they know you helped them and won’t forget it. I’ve seen videos of people experiencing this with horses, deer, racoons, and even squirrels.
I mentioned earlier about my housemate’s 3 birds. They’re really amazing creatures. But rather fragile. When you’re used to dogs and cats, the instinct is to want to pet and hug them. Birds don’t mind a little stroking, but it’s really not their thing (with few exceptions). I was away for a while during the summer and when I returned the young parrot who talks was so excited. He did his happy “prepping for flight” movement then flapped his wings as I approached and blurted out “HELLO LOVE BUG!” “WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT’S GOING ON?” It’s so cool and weird having a pet talk to you in your native tongue.
As winter approaches, we take in hedgehogs that weigh too little and would not survive hibernation. The first moved in with us a few days ago; he weighed only 240 g.
We remove parasites, clean them and feed them; if necessary, we also take them to the vet. When they are big enough they go into the outdoor enclosure in the garden and can then hibernate there. When they wake up we set them free.
Last year we helped three of these adorable creatures through the winter. One of them has very light spines and had a wound behind his right ear where no spines grew anymore. That’s how we recognised him when he came back into our garden a few weeks ago. To see him again was something very special!
Hedgehogs are an endangered species in Germany, and in an environment that show less and less respect for them, they need us.
Thank you! It really is a great pleasure to look after these little animals and we are grateful that we have the opportunity to do so. – Incidentally, the hedgehog is Germany’s Animal of the Year 2024.
By the way, yesterday the second hedgehog moved in, and in at least one of the three hedgehog houses in our garden a hedgehog has taken up residence
My wife used to live in the countryside of Tuscany before moving to Trieste, and every time she got out in the evening, and had to get back home in the middle of the night after some disco time, or just a dinner with friends, she slowed down the car and drove super-carefully to avoid hitting some hedgehogs — especially the mothers with their children.
[And when I went to her place for a visit, and I chaperoned her around, I got seriously scolded a couple of times, as I was told I was driving too fast at points along the road where the probability of a hit-and-run was higher. Fortunately, I never damaged anything, and maybe once I simply stopped and turned off the engine to let some wild animals cross the road.]
Hedgehogs are super-cute and graceful, and always remind me of an episode of an anime titled “The hedgehog dilemma”, which I found was one of the greatest titles ever — I think it’s a reference to Schopenhauer or Kierkegaard…
