Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Look who came to visit.



It's not often you get to see a hedgehog in the middle of the day, and certainly not one who's so friendly. This wee fella has been hanging around for a few weeks. We'd catch a glimpse of him now and again late at night when the dogs were going out for that last sniff of the garden.


But today at three 'o' clock in the afternoon he decided to stop by and grab himself a tasty snack.
He seemed to be attracted by the puppy food and was happily munching away at their left overs. He wasn't a bit scared of us or the dogs or the cat. He even let us stroke his snout, and feed him mushy biscuits by hand.



We're hoping that he'll stick around for the winter as he looks quite young. His parents were most likely squished as we haven't seen any other hedgehogs around either in the day or the night, but then he could be a rebelious teenager and has taken to sneaking out of the den to live it up on our lawn. We've put out an old carrier filled with leaves and hay so if he wants somewhere to bunk down then he can. It seems that Hedgehogs only hibernate if it gets really cold or food gets scarce, so he might be a regular feature of the winter; it never gets freezing here in Devonport and being regular animal lovers we'll keep him topped up with food.



You can see how small he actually is, next to Paige's legs. Even in the throes of admiring nature she had to have her knitting handy. I swear that girl is even more addicted to knitting than I am.

Anyone else been treated to a glimpse of nature?

23 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow what great pictures! You always imagine Hedgehogs to be so shy too. We're currently being terrorised by a gang of hoody House Martins. Does that count?!

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

What a cute hedgehog - I never realised that they were native to NZ. We are having lots of crows eating the olives off our tree and a number of cuckatoos around here lately.

Tracy said...

Soooo cute! Hedgehogs are adorable...And who knew they could be so friendly, almost cuddly?! Looks like the family pets have found a new pet of their own--LOL! Happy Days ((HUGS))

Carol said...

oooh he is so sweet. It must be quite rare to see one so tame.
Carol x

Elizabeth said...

We have visitors every day. The latest was a mallard duck that sat for so long and so still at our stream that I thought she was laying eggs. I didn't find any in the morning, though.
Love your hedgehog.
We have much bigger and less cute possums.

ellen b. said...

Oh how sweet is that. I love the way hedgehogs look and Mrs. Tiggywinkle is my favorite of the Beatrix Potter animals. :)

Unknown said...

How cute is he - and so brave - usually they curl up or run away! What a wonderful treat1

LizzieJane said...

Lovely pictures and what a lovely little hedgehog.
I also didn't know that you had them in NZ.
Hope he stays around a while.

Kitty said...

Awww, isn't that fabulous? I always think it's something special when a 'wild' animal chooses to make its home with you. Glad to see you have a crafty daughter - when will she start her own crafty blog?! x

Leanne said...

Wow how fantastic. Like Lisa I didn't realise that you had hedgehogs in NZ ???are they introduced. They are so sweet I hope he hangs round so we can see him grow thanks to photos from you.

Alison Gibbs said...

Thanks for sharing your hedgehog with us. It is so, so small
Alison

Ragged Roses said...

How lovely to see a hedgehog. When I was little our garden was full of them but I haven't seen any in a garden for years
Kimx

Sal said...

So cute. I have not seen one here, for ages!Sal;-)

Country Cottage Chic said...

How cute! I wonder if he's a rescue hedgehog who has been released, so he isn't afraid of people?

dottycookie said...

Lovely hedgehog pictures! We have one that comes into our garden, we think, but we rarely see him.

Thimbleanna said...

Wow! That's amazing that he's not afraid of,at least the cat! Or that the cat didn't try to eat him or something! What a cool sight for you!

Willow said...

Oh wow! So cute!

I hope he stays around and you get lots of photos to share!

I didn't know there were hedgehogs in NZ.

Willow said...

I see quail and bunnies everyday. Oh, and hummingbirds.

Linda said...

He is so cute and tiny too. It's amazing he wasn't afraid of your pets and they liked him too. I hope he makes his home in the little nest you made for him..please keep us posted.

What is your daughter knitting? Hugs, Linda

Unknown said...

Fantastic pictures, sweet hedgehog, I miss seeing things like that since we moved house.

Thanks for commenting on my blog.

Rosie

Life's a Stitch said...

I've never seen a live hedgehog in the wild. Did see a dead one in Denmark ;-(

I don't think Gracee would have been as friendly. Very cute photos.

joyh82 said...

OMG! How adorable! I have never seen one except at the Zoo.

Firefly Nights said...

What a cute little hedgehog. I've never seen one for real, but Riley used to have stuffed toys that look just like the little fellow. I lost track of how many of the toys he ripped up before we stopped buying them. They were too cute to be held down with a paw for their stuffing to be ripped out. I hope your real fellow stays safe from all the bigger critters in the area.