Not a kitty!

[Coolwater]

We went horseback riding last night for a couple of hours. As we were walking up the road on the way home, my horse leaned over and started sniffing the road with great interest. Step step, sniff sniff. My friend's mount just walked along, uninterested in whatever it was. Then Misty brought her head up and looked intently into the field along side the road. There, about two meters away, was small skunk loping along as fast as it could scurry . It was kind of funny, because at full speed a skunk doesn't go much faster than a horse can walk, especially an interested one. The skunk did get ahead of us, however, and we saw it cross the road into a big yard. It disappeared in a PVC drain pipe that ran parallel to the road under a driveway.

We drew close to the driveway, my horse intent on where she saw the skunk vanish, and tugging the rein a little to go over. (Misty, no!) From the drain we hear a chirp, and three tiny heads pop up in the grass. Baby skunks! It's no wonder they call baby skunks kittens: they look just like them. SO CUTE!

One at a time, the little kits hopped across the yard and down the drain. The last one paused at the lip of the pipe and made eye contact with Misty, who lowered her head to see better. The little skunk fluffed up like a feather duster and pop! went down the pipe. Just charming!

[brilliant!MacLeod]

What a lovely story!!!!

We have a family of hedgehogs in our garden.They would never show up but we can hear them munch and crunch every evening at dusk,a strange kind of sqawk(I know there is no such word,but that´s the sound).Yesterday Kira dropped some tunafish pizza in the garden inadvertently and suddenly the mama hedgehog chased out of their hiding place,grabbed the pizza and stormed back!! So funny and cute.
Loud munching and crunching followed,and after a while mama would peek out again,hoping to find more pizza!!!Wich she got! So would you have thought they like tunafish?

[pukkie]

Friends from us they have hedgehogs in the garden to
Mama ,daddy and six littleones
They eat every day catfood ,they like that very much to
Sometimes walk a hegdehog in the living room ,very cute !

[Coolwater]

We don't have hedgehogs here in the US, but they are imported as pets. Very cute, indeed! At our daughter's elementary school, there was one that was the classroom pet, and the children could take it home for weekends to care for it. "*****les" stayed with us several times; he slept all day and kept us up at nights squawking (yes, it is a real English word :)), and gnawing, and rearranging his cage to suit himself. The dogs were very interested in him, and sat in front of his cage watching and worrying a little. We never fed *****les tuna fish - I wish we had known! :D And I'm glad he wasn't walking around the house, because I like to go barefoot, especially at night!

Oh, and by the way, those baby skunks were no bigger than a small hedgehog.

[Coolwater]

(with head in hands) The censor thinks I'm swearing. The hedgehog's name is an innocent word that means "thorny." :rolleyes:

[pukkie]

Cute !

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp25/mukkie_03/Filmmap%202/image0011111.jpg

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp25/mukkie_03/Filmmap%202/image0022222.jpg

[pukkie]

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp25/mukkie_03/Filmmap%202/image0033333.jpg

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp25/mukkie_03/Filmmap%202/image0044444.jpg

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp25/mukkie_03/Filmmap%202/image0055555.jpg

[waltersv]

How cute! I can honestly say I never saw one before, other than drawings. All we have, other than skunks, are porcupines, and of course, our local Pennsylvania celebrity "Punxsutawney Phil", the world's most famous groundhog. I'm almost ashamed to admit to that. Aound here, groundhogs are thought to be nothing but roadkill waiting to happen. They're very destructive.

[Coolwater]

Oh, pukkie! Your little hedge hog is so tiny and cute! Is that a wild one? And he doesn't mind that you pick him up?

Oh, waltersv, wood chucks aren't so bad. They just mind their own business, eating clover and bugs, ... and digging big holes! The little ones are pretty cute, you have to admit. Once when I got to the soccer practice field with a load of little girls in cleats, there was a young chuck eating clover in the middle of the field. The girls didn't know what to make of the little ground hog, and he froze in place, right in the middle of the practice field. One of the girls wanted to try to pat him - she didn't know about those sharp teeth, and the wood chuck's sturdy attitude. I told her they bite! Leave him alone and I would get him off the field.

Ground hogs (wood chucks) are not fast, so they have to be warrior-like and stand their ground. I went up to the little chuck and clucked to him, but he wouldn't pretend I was his mother and come along. Instead he clicked his teeth at me, and hunched his shoulders. So I came forward and when he clicked his teeth, I danced back a little as if I were scared of him. The brassy little fellow became bold and began to chase me, clicking his teeth. When he'd stop, I'd come closer, and he'd chase me a little more. We were moving to the edge of the field. I was a ground hog matador!

Now, this chuck was only about the size of a loaf of bread, and I could easily have grabbed him by the scruff of the neck because I am a lot faster than a wood chuck, but he didn't realize that, I guess. As it was, the little tough guy chased me right into the deep grass, off the field, where I stopped. He had to sit up to see me clearly, and it was then he realized he was safe in the grass near a chuck hole. He hurried down the hole, and I got a round of applause from the girls and the coaches. After that when the cars pulled into the field, the little chuck left. By the end of the summer, he was big and fat, and ready for winter hibernation.

[pukkie]

Yes Cool ,it is a wild one
A friend send me the pictures ,when you are careful with the hedge hog ,i think you can pick him up. They life in the garden by our friends .
Here in the city you see not much hedge hogs,more on the country site ,but they walk to the highway ,and that is very dangerous , the littleones died because cars drive over them .

[brilliant!MacLeod]

They´re very common around here and as Pukkie said,you have to drive really careful not to drive over them. In autumn,we watch out for them to see if they are strong enough to survive Winter time.If they don´t have a minimum weight you can either take them in and try to help them survive or-what is better and recommended-bring them to a nurturing station where specialists will care for them.I love hedgehogs,they are soooo cute!!!!
And,as we say here:" Nobody is perfect",said the hedgehog and climbed down from the hairbrush...:D ( I hope this is appropriate here?)

[Coolwater]

:D That's funny! I hope the joke is OK, because here is another: my dad had a cartoon that showed a turtle looking romantically at an army helmet! And here is a real story: in Wisconsin there was a moose that had a romantic relationship with a cow! The moose stayed in the cow's field for months, and they seemed happy together. Lucky for the moose, the cow's owner thought it was funny.

So you have hedgehog helping organizations? How can you tell when a hedgehog is fat enough and healthy enough for the winter? Is it a matter of its general condition, or do you weigh it?

[brilliant!MacLeod]

It´s both,if you think the hedgehog seems too small you weigh them ,I think they have to have a minimum weight of 500g.
A patient of hubby once had a hedgehog for the winter and in springtime the little cutie didn´t want to leave so he kept him as a pet and every evening they sat on the couch together,watching tv!!
The hedgehog would even jump onto the couch when asked to do so!!!;)

[Coolwater]

He knew the good life when he was living it, didn't he?

[brilliant!MacLeod]

He knew the good life when he was living it, didn't he?

Not only that ,he REALLY ENJOYED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So what is the lesson of this?
"Always look at the bright side of life...":D (for example look at a picture of Adrian smiling and your day is made!:D)