Christine and Jonathan are proud foster parents of a…
Pair of Hedghogs!!!
Jonathan came across his first ever hedgehog in the driveway as it stumbled about looking for its mother and food. We tried giving it some milk while Christine did some quick research about what they eat. We took in our new little one and named him William. This is the picture taken moments after finding him, he’s looking a bit cold and frightened:
But he soon puffed up and started getting used to his new environment, especially happy about being warm and fed.
We were just getting over the excitement two days later when his likely sibling was spotted by a good friend and neighbor, in the grass not far from where his brother was found. His name is George. We are thrilled because they are the cutest ever!
Hedghogs are lactose intolerant and need to have their bellies rubbed to stimulate digestion after eating. Here’s Christine giving a soft belly rub to a compliant William:
Cow’s milk isn’t the best thing to give hedgehogs but if it’s all that’s available to you then you can give it to them by cutting it with water and sugar. We initially fed them with a dropper but this week we’ve graduated to the saucer method. Soon we’ll progress to mushed up bananas and finally hope to graduate to slugs and snails (a hedgehog’s favorite meal)! Has the universe sent us two tiny solutions to the slug and snail infestation we suffer through? We hope so! We’re planning on raising them while building an outdoor habitat for them to live in the petite potager where, during the evening, they can feast heartily on slugs galore before the slugs feast on our lettuces!
We’ll keep you updated on William and George’s progress.
Meanwhile, spring is springing up everywhere around the Chateau and the chickens are no exception. The same week our hedgehogs arrived we got two new chicks we’ve named Sylvia and Cheryl (we all take a turn naming a chick after our mother, and we think Christine’s mom is going to be so happy to meet her namesake).
The first chicken on the left is Dorothy, the proud new mom! She’s one of the two Golden Girls (along with her sister, Rose) and she gave us some new baby chicks on Wednesday. In the picture below the eggs have just hatched and she’s all puffed up keeping everyone warm. We can hear the chirp chirping underneath her…
…baby Sylvia came out first for a look around and to get some baby chick food that was sitting out for her…
…and in no time at all Sylvia and Cheryl were being taken out on bug finding walks!
The weather is beautiful and all kinds of flowers, birds, butterflies and bees are filling our senses with springtime happiness. We are starting to see the early fruits of our labor as the tomato plants get bigger and the lettuces fill out. June and July will be big harvesting months and we’re looking forward to that.
Happy Spring!
UPDATE: The very evening we published this post, George passed away in his sleep. He was the smaller brother that had been found three days after William and we’d always feared he had suffered too much exposure to make it through. His last week of life was a happy one, we think, as he spent most of his time cuddled up against William. All three of us will miss him.
Tags: 2009-May, Tag Index
seeingspain
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:51 am
Sorry to hear that one has been lost….