“The hedgehog felt like a master in our house”

Grandfather took out a hedgehog from under the wheels of the car and brought it to his granddaughters

I remember the year before last, in early September, my father-in-law came to visit us. He brought a large cardboard box, and in it a hedgehog. He said that there are a lot of hedgehogs in the vicinity of the dacha, and this is the Smolevichi district of the Minsk region of Belarus. From the forest, they massively went out to people and onto the road. And this baby miraculously survived. The father-in-law pulled him out from under the wheels of the car.

Then grandfather remembered that his granddaughters, Anya and Dasha, really wanted to see a hedgehog. And he took such an unusual prickly gift to Minsk.

We didn’t think that Thorn would stay with us for a long time.

To be honest, we weren’t going to get a hedgehog. If they wanted to buy an exotic animal, they would buy a decorative one.

Emotions and joy from meeting with Thorn quickly subsided. And the question arose: what to do with it? It suddenly became cold outside. And he, baby, so tiny, seemed completely defenseless. The school year has begun, my husband and I are all in care and work … And a trip to the dacha was not included in the plans. We hoped that the father-in-law would come and take the hedgehog back to the forest. But time passed, and the baby settled down in the apartment.

So two weeks passed. It was terribly cold outside, it was raining all the time. At this time, hedgehogs are actively preparing for wintering, they are building minks, gaining fat. And our Thorn has already got used (although we are not 100 percent sure, but we think it’s a boy) to the heat and to the fact that there is always food in the bowl.

To take a hedgehog to the forest meant to give it to certain death. So Kolyuchka stayed for the winter in our apartment.

How to get used to life with a hedgehog

The whole family began to read a lot about hedgehogs. They knew, of course, even before that, that these prickly animals are predators. But our hedgehog refused to eat meat, both raw and boiled.   

In the vet. The pharmacy advised us to feed the unusual pet with kitten food. And, indeed, he began to eat it with pleasure. Sometimes he ate fruit. The children gave him apples and pears.

The hedgehog is a nocturnal animal. Sleep during the day and run at night. And it doesn’t matter that he ran, it doesn’t matter that it’s loud. The funny and at the same time scary thing was that he climbed on the bed. How he did it, I don’t know. Probably clinging to the sheets. One day the husband woke up in horror, asked to remove this animal from him. He also climbed up to the children. And he always tried to hide under the covers, to dig under the pillow. And it’s not pleasant to prick himself on thorns at night … I had to put him in a large cage for rabbits. At about 12 at night, when my husband and I went to bed, we closed the hedgehog in it until the morning.

In the spring, when it got warmer, they moved him to the balcony. That was his territory. He ate and lived there.

Thorn felt like a master in the house  

The hedgehog immediately began to behave very boldly and confidently. I felt like the owner. We still have a cat. He slept next to her bed. The cat, of course, did not like this neighborhood. But what can you do? The hedgehog is prickly. She tried to fight him, drive him out of his place. But nothing worked. This is a hedgehog…

I found where the cat has water with food. He ate with pleasure from her bowls, although he himself always had both food and water in the cage.

When we were sitting on a sofa or in an armchair, and the legs were in the way of the hedgehog, he never went around, but stuck himself right on them. In his opinion, it was we who should give way to him.

And when he didn’t like something, he hissed menacingly. In the “showdown” with the cat, he became even more prickly.

But when he was disposed to affection, he approached us, the daughters. Folded thorns and became soft. You could even kiss him on the nose.

Although we named him Thorn, we still do not know who it is – a boy or a girl. Turned over on the tummy, and he immediately curled up.

hedgehog habits

The thorn did not spoil anything, did not gnaw things. I always went to the toilet in the same place, which surprised and pleased me very much. But, to be honest, we didn’t accustom him on purpose – neither to the tray, nor to diapers. He found his own place. “Went” only for the battery. Then, when he began to live on the balcony, in the same corner.

Tried to play with toys. He did not respond to them. Human speech, it seems to me, also did not recognize. Although, when we came home, he always met. He ran out, walked around us, sat, even jumped.

Once they took Kolyuchka with them to the park in the spring – for a joint walk with the guys from the class of their eldest daughter. They let the hedgehog out of the cage, he didn’t go far. And the children of others, who touched him endlessly, were not afraid.

Fun Fact: Hedgehogs shed. Drops needles. Of course, he does not stay completely naked, but many needles were found in the apartment. We even collected them in a jar.

We thought if the hedgehog would fall asleep in the winter in a warm apartment

Prickly still fell into hibernation. And we doubted, we thought that at home she would not fall asleep. And at the end of November he lay down in a cage, buried himself in a bedding and slept until the beginning of March. True, I woke up several times: the first time on December 31, the second – on my daughter’s birthday on February 5. Maybe the general festive excitement interfered, it was too noisy. The hedgehog woke up, ate, walked around the apartment for a while, then climbed back into the cage and fell asleep.

I was worried whether Thorn would fall asleep or not. I read that you need to create conditions for it to be cold. We didn’t do anything special. I slept in a cage near the balcony in the children’s room. Still, nature takes over.

The hedgehog was returned to an environment close to natural habitats

Kolyuchka lived with us for about a year. But we didn’t throw it out. My husband’s parents constantly live in the country. There is a large area – 25-30 hectares, near the forest. We moved the hedgehog there. Letting go, they thought, would be dangerous. The hedgehog is already at home. And he will not be able to get his own food, build housing.

But we learned that hedgehogs live in the wild for about three years, and in captivity up to 8-10 years. And our Thorn is doing well: he is full, happy and safe.

We brought the hedgehog to the dacha last summer. They moved along with the cage, which was placed in a spacious warm chicken coop. Now he sleeps there. He did not build anything for himself: he was used to the cage. This is his home.

Kolyuchka never hunted chickens, never stole eggs. Still, a hedgehog brought up by us!

But all summer and autumn he teased the dog. He came to the dog locked up for the night in the aviary and hissed at him. Apparently, he wanted to say: you were locked up, and I am free. And indeed, a hedgehog in a dacha in a cage is not closed. It is not limited in movement over a large area. He himself returns to the chicken coop. Knows: a bowl of food is always worth it.

If grandparents had not lived in the country, we would not have given the hedgehog anywhere and to anyone. A petting zoo was not considered an option at all. I understood: we tamed him ourselves. And the children already know: you need to be responsible for a minute whim. Now they themselves say: we will think a thousand times before asking and getting some kind of animal.

And wild animals still should not be taken from their natural habitat.

The children, of course, miss Thorn, but they know that they can always visit him. But the hedgehog no longer recognizes us and does not run out to meet us when we arrive.

We read a lot about hedgehogs, about their habits, lifestyle. They need a family, and our Thorn may not have one. Only if someone crawls to him. By the way, we do not exclude such an option – the forest is close. The mating season for hedgehogs in the spring, after hibernation. He may well meet the lady of the heart and go into the forest. Or maybe bring a chosen one to him, and hedgehogs will appear in the chicken coop. But that will be another story.

All photos: from the personal archive of Irina Rybakova.If you have stories from life with a pet, send them to us and become a WikiPet contributor!