Guess what I got for Valentines day!
A pincushion with legs?
A walking cactus?
A miniature porcupine?
No, a Hedgehog!
Meet Zathras, the cutest, smartest, hedgehog in the world! (OK, so I’m biased.)
You’re probably wondering how I came to be in possession of this spiky little guy. Frankly, I’m not really sure how it happened myself. Let’s just say that my husband’s mind is a strange and mysterious place. One never knows what one may encounter there, and never questions the wonders to behold.
Basically, here’s how it went down… One day a couple of weeks ago I was reading through my blog feeds, and one of the animal blogs I check out had a hedgehog post (it may have been Cute Overload or it could have been I Can Has Cheezburger?). I was chatting with John on-line while reading, and idly typed to him, “Can I have a hedgehog?”
Now, I ask John for stuff all of the time, usually he laughs at me, but one never knows (see above) so I keep asking anyway.
Much to my surprise he said “Ok, how about for a Valentines present.” Or something along those lines, I’m not going back into my chat log to get his exact wording. Anyway, I just about fell off my chair. Did he say yes?!?!? He later explained to me that I’ve asked for a hedgehog more than once over the years, and since it was a continuing request he figured I wasn’t going to loose interest anytime soon.
So off we went in search of a hedgehog, but it seems that they’re not easy to find in Wisconsin during the middle of winter. None were up for adoption at rescue shelters, no pet stores had any, and all the breeders in a two hour radius had waiting lists that wouldn’t start getting filled until May. I figured I was out of luck.
Then John sends me a link for a breeder in Ohio. Wait, Ohio? That’s three states over, and hedgehogs don’t ship UPS. Is he insane? Apparently he is, but it’s the good kind of crazy so I won’t be pulling out the backwards jacket yet.
On Valentines day we drove four (yes, that’s right 4) hours in one direction to adopt our little ball of quills.
His name is Zathras and did I mention that he’s the cutest, smartest, hedgehog in the world? Oh, right…
He’s just a baby, not even two months old, and just was barely able to leave his mother when we got him. Still, he’s very outgoing and has made a great transition into his new home. As for smart… He was litter box trained in just a couple of days. Not too shabby for a guy who has a brain no bigger than my thumbnail!
We named him Zathras after a character from Babylon 5. John and I met because of that show, so it seemed a fitting tribute on Valentines day. Plus, he just looks like a Zathras.
So from now on you’ll be getting posts on his progress along with my snakes. I think it’s a good addition to the blog, don’t you? :D
Hugs,
1 comment:
He is SO CUTE!!!
Post a Comment