Yesterday I was working in my office and suddenly heard our Basset hound barking like mad and sounding VERY close. It sounded like she was on the front porch, which she doesn't have access to. I ran inside to find Meri screaming and crying upstairs. Ryan's bedroom is directly above my office and Sorsha had nosed her way into his room finding the hedgehogs.
Meri was dragging Sorsha down the stairs as I ran in to check on the hedgehogs. Penelope, if you recall, is a unwed teenage mother hedgehog that JUST had babies last Friday. From our research, you're supposed to leave her entirely alone for 10-12 days because if she gets stressed out, she may eat her babies... Haven't we ALL had those thoughts???
Well, upon checking on her, she had ditched her little hoglets outside the igloo and was hiding inside, chittering like crazy. She must have been taking them on their daily constitutional when terror struck. So... this new mother has abandoned her children? I was very disappointed in her...
Meri had calmed down by this point and ran to get me a washcloth. I picked up each little hedgie gently with the cloth and "rolled" them into the igloo to get back to their mother without my scent on them. We checked on them later in the day and she was nursing them calmly again.
WHEW! What a relief!! I can't wait until we can handle them again, they are So CUTE! Looks to be next Wednesday. In my anxiousness to get them back to their mother, I forgot to check if they were male or female. Now I want to know! Darn. Oh - and there are only two of them. Ryan must not have gotten a good look on Friday.
5 comments:
Whew! Glad no one was hurt in the hedgehog fiasco! Who knew raising those little buggers would be such drama? Hahaha. Glad the mom didn't have any lasting trauma and is happily mothering the babies.
me too! I think we may be past the baby eating phase, but we don't want to take too many chances... I'm hoping she'll be secure enough in her mommyhood to let Ryan clean his room this weekend...
Oh my goodness! I'm glad the babies are okay.
Ohmagosh. I thought maybe your dog ate the babies. My mind tends to jump to conclusions. Glad they're okay! I wanna see em when you can take pics!
I didn't know that hedgehogs ate their young when they get stressed out. Interesting ..Perhaps that leads to better infant behavior if that thought is always hovering in the back of your mind - "If I cry, then Mommy will eat me".
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