We regret to inform those of you in VT that, as of a state meeting and vote that occured today, hedgehogs have been returned to the illegal species list. We do not have any more information at this time, and we will be sure to update you as information gets passed to us. We do not know what will happen with the hedgehogs currently residing in VT, and if special permits will be required and or allowed. Anyoine needing to relinquish their hedgehog can contact us as we are always glad to take in any hedgehog for any reason.

A huge "Thank You" goes out to our network of reliable owners for keeping us abreast of the VT laws and the hedgehogs posted on craigslist and other sites. We certanily couldn't do all this without your help and we appriciate the extra effort you go to for the benefit of all hedgehogs.

 Kelly

The baby I've been hand feeding, every 2-3 hours for the past several days, died this morning. She wasn't looking so good at her 6:30am feeding, and by 9am she was dead. It's very sad and I feel like I've wasted the past several days, but I felt that I had to give it my best shot.

So now I'm absolutely beat, my house is a mess, and my friends have forgotten what I look and sound like. Email and questionnaires are backed up and people want pictures of their babies. I just want to take a nap. The feedings have put my body on a very odd cycle of sleeping whenever I can get to the bed.

Here is a pic in memory of the little one:

-K 

Well, the baby is still with us. I thought I killed her once today. I was feeding her, and she just stopped moving. She wouldn't respond, so I thought maybe I fed too fast and she choked. It turned out that she has just fallen asleep. She will take a tiny feeding from me and then fall asleep. So I've had to feed her every 2.5 - 3 hours. I'm beat and I don't feel like I'm able to get anything done because every time I turn around, it's time to feed the darn baby (no, I don't have kids of my own, thank you very little).

And she still won't suckle or even cooperate for a hand feeding. I have to force the little pipette in her mouth and go really slow for fear that she's going to fall asleep. Not fun. Baby feeding is best left to baby mommies. 

On top of baby (not literally), I have to answer email, monitor Hedgehog World.com, and I have pick-up appointments. I'm tired!

Oh, for those of you wondering what happened to HHW last night: Our provider was doing server maintenace and then we had to change a command to get up again. No big deal, no nefarious hackers.

-K 

PS: Julie, Stop eating the A/D! I can loan you food money if things are that bad! 

The little baby made it through her first day. Sake wasn't comfortable with her, so I slipped her in with FiGiSGM's litter. FiGiSGM (Funky Girl Stasi Gave Me) is fine with the foster and is allowing her to stay in the nest and keep warm. The baby isn't suckling, and I'm not sure why. She isn't getting pushed away from the mom, so I'm afraid that maybe it's because she's too weak. She is really skinny. Her first 2 feedings went really well, and she took the food readily, but not I have to force feed her. Not a good sign.

I'm going to keep at it and do all I can do  and hope that its enough. I'm not getting my hopes up. I need a nap!

 -K

It's 5:20AM and technically Tuesday morning. However, I haven't gone to bed yet and Monday needs a blog entery, So in my world it's still Monday.

I was doing my last hedgehog check of the night when something looked off in Mokie's cage. She started out with 6 babies and one was still born. It was her first litter, so I didn't want to bother her too much. As a breeder, you need to walk a very thin line of checking in on the mother hedgehogs to make sure they are raising the babies (that they have milk and are allowing the babies to feed and also that he babies don't get kicked out of the nest accidentally) and leaving them alone so they don't freak out and kill the litter. Mokie was born here and is familiar with me, so I can take more liberties then someone may be able to with a different hedgehog.

So, something seemed wrong and I peeked into the nest (My breeder Spidey sense was tingling). What I found was Mokie standing over 4 dead babies and 1 skinny baby girl with a concave stomach that looked yellowish and barely alive. Mokie appeared as if she was trying to protect her nest, so I'm guessing that either her milk didn't come in or she couldn't figure out how to relax and feed the babies. She wanted to be a mom and some of the hormones were there, but it was her first litter and she wasn't getting it right.So I pulled the live baby from her nest and did a hand feeding.

The baby did well and took the replacement milk hungrily. I'm taking that as a good sign. I also got urine and a tiny bit of feces when I stimulated her (you need to stimulate the muscles because the babies can't potty on their own), so I'm guessing she had eaten at some point. After stimulating, she took a little more food and then I marked her with some nail polish. I slipped her in with Sake's litter (born yesterday), so hopefully Sake will accept her. 

I will have to keep a close eye on her over the next few days, and I will probably have to do some more supplementing. I don't know if this baby is going to make it and I'm not gonna get my hopes up. She was really emaciated by the time I found her. I'll keep you posted.

 -K

Thank goodness for my litter records! Without them I would never be able to tell all you different people with similar names apart. I get a lot of email from a lot of hedgehog owners and prospective hedgehog owners. I also have to keep track of who is visiting when, who has put a deposit on a hedgehog, who is planning to put down a deposit, and who still needs to pick up their hedgehog. It is confusing to say the least!

Right now I have hedgehogs reserved for a C. Garfield and a C. Garfinkle. No Kidding, I really do. I also sold a hedgehog to a Samantha H. last week and have an appointment with a Samantha M. this week. Then ther's Richard and Rebecca and Lin, Lauren, Linda, and Linsey.

___________________________ 

So to all you people out there doing your best to confuse me;

'Let's Call The Whole Thing Off lyrics'

By; Louis Armstrong

Verse
Things have come to a pretty pass
Our romance is growing flat,
For you like this and the other
While I go for this and that,
Goodness knows what the end will be
Oh I don't know where I'm at
It looks as if we two will never be one
Something must be done:

Chorus - 1
You say either and I say either, You say neither and I say neither
Either, either Neither, neither, Let's call the whole thing off.

You like potato and I like potahto, You like tomato and I like tomahto
Potato, potahto, Tomato, tomahto, Let's call the whole thing off

But oh, if we call the whole thing off Then we must part
And oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart

So if you like pyjamas and I like pyjahmas, I'll wear pyjamas and give up
pyajahmas
For we know we need each other so we , Better call the whole off off
Let's call the whole thing off.


Chorus - 2
You say laughter and I say larfter, You say after and I say arfter
Laughter, larfter after arfter, Let's call the whole thing off,

You like vanilla and I like vanella, You saspiralla, and I saspirella
Vanilla vanella chocolate strawberry, Let's call the whole thing off

But oh if we call the whole thing of then we must part
And oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart

So if you go for oysters and I go for ersters, I'll order oysters and cancel
the ersters
For we know we need each other so we, Better call the calling off off,
Let's call the whole thing off.


Chorus - 3
I say father, and you say pater, I saw mother and you say mater
Pater, mater Uncle, auntie, let's call the whole thing off.

I like bananas and you like banahnahs, I say Havana and I get Havahnah
Bananas, banahnahs Havana, Havahnah, Go your way, I'll go mine

So if I go for scallops and you go for lobsters, So all right no contest we'll
order lobseter
For we know we need each other so we, Better call the calling off off,
Let's call the whole thing off

Hear the song preformed by Fred and Ginger 

____________________________________

Face it, everything relates to a song somehow. Most of the time it keeps life happy and entertaining. At the very least, it gives me something to hum while I am frantically paging through litter records and old emails.

-K 

Well, Caviar Dreams killed off 2 of her babies and I found a third one dead.  The remaining 3 have been fostered to Hio. Caviar will retire and go live with Alison. Now Alison can have Champagne Wishes AND Caviar dreams. I'm sure she was feeling incomplete before (Champagne Wishes went to live with Alison last week for the same reason).

In yet another blow, I lost the little girl that had the prolapse. She was a half sister to Caviar Dreams and both were daughters to Tobiko, who we lost a few weeks back. Roe, the remaining sister, will stay at Hamor Hollow to continue the line. We are also hoping to keep one of the Caviar boys once Hio works her fostering Magick.

I also got this email from Rebbecca regarding Princess Sophie:

"I'm sorry to say that the antibiotics did not work. I
took her back to the vet this morning and he
anesthetized her and did a thorough exam of her
mouth. He found that is was a large tumor, extending
way back into her jaw and into the bone on both sides.
He said it wasn't something that could be removed, and
that it would be a matter of weeks at the most before
it became painful and stopped her from being able to
eat and recommended that she be put to sleep while she
was still under so that it would be stress free and
painless, so that's what I did. I just wanted to let
you know.
Rebecca"

I am extremely sorry for Rebecca's loss, but I think she made a wise and selfless decision. Princess Sophie will be missed.

 -K

From the Pasiley Gazette in the UK

Monday July 16, 2007

» I FEARED I WOULD BE SHOT IN FRONT OF MY LITTLE GIRL (4/7/07)

By Irina Nelson

A KEY witness in a shock trial feared he would be gunned down in front of his little girl before he could give evidence.

The man - who cannot be named - called in animal protection enforcers after seeing a hedgehog being beaten to death.

The brave action saw two youths, Anton Sloan and Daniel O’Sullivan, charged with the shocking and brutal offence.

But weeks later, the life of the innocent tradesman was shattered when he heard a loud bang outside his home.

And, to his horror, the image of a youth pointing a gun at his home flickered on his TV screen from CCTV cameras.

The painter and decorator immediately bundled his daughter into an upstairs room and called in Strathclyde Police.

An armed response unit immediately combed the area for the gun man as police constables cordoned off roads.

The victim revealed: “I had already been getting abuse over this case.

“But the worst night had to be when I was getting my daughter ready for bed and I heard this really loud bang.

“I turned on the CCTV and there was this image of a gang of around ten boys hanging around outside.

“And then I suddenly focused on this guy holding a gun - pointing it straight at my house.

“I thought they were coming back to get me because I had called in the SSPCA and the police over this poor wee hedgehog.

“Thankfully, the police got here before anything happened - but it shook up the whole family.”

A spokeswoman from Strathclyde Police HQ in Pitt Street confirmed they had been called to the alleged firearm incident.

But the intimidation did not end there.

It spilled into Paisley Sheriff Court when the case finally went to trial on Friday.

One youth, who police then believed to have been part of a group who attacked the hedgehog, allegedly went on the run to escape giving evidence.

Several other rowdy teenagers did, however, turn up in the public gallery and were almost kicked out by police.

The 41-year-old witness almost begged the sheriff to stop the case as they repeatedly interrupted his testimony.

He said: “It would appear that the major witness to the crime absconded through fear.

“The behaviour of those other boys was so outrageous that I almost asked the sheriff to stop the proceedings.

“They showed no respect whatsoever for a court of law.”

The mob mentality was so bad that he even feared being attacked outside court.

He revealed: “Given the level of intimidation, I had to get a police escort from the court to my car.

“But I know they would never take me on one-on-one because they are cowards.”

But - despite everything - he said he would still defend the right of a defenceless animal.

He said: “I will never forget the sheer brutality of what happened to that defenceless hedgehog.

“But - despite all the threats, the intimidation and the hassle - I would go through it all again.

“Because if people like me don’t - who will?”

• A 15-year-old youth is expected to appear before members of the Children’s Panel over an alleged firearm incident.