Hibernation

We have some sad news.... the hedgehogs have gone into hibernation. We think that the snow mights have scared them away. Today the snow is at least 12 cm deep!

So; there probably won't be many posts until early spring when they come out of hibernation.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year! See you (and the hedgehogs) in 2010!

Another Visiter

Video cam = Daddy wrote a program so that when the motion sensor senses motion an alarm goes off on the computer and a screen shot is taken. In the morning we can look on the computer and see which hedgehogs came in the night.

One night, on Monday the 23rd at 4:09 a photo was taken. Standing on the plate was a small mouse. A mouse eating the hedgehog's peanut butter!! There have also been two other rodents in the house (other than hedgehogs), but we're not sure what they are.

Here are 3 screen shots.

1. The first photo is of the unknown rodent.

2. The second photo is of a mouse.

3. The last photo is of one of the hedgehogs. We're not sure which one.

Food?

You might ask, 'Are the hedgehogs getting a balanced diet?' Well, we asked ourselves the very same question. On the 22nd of November we decided to try feeding them cat food. We put out a few handfuls, but in the morning none of it had been eaten. The next night we tried blending together the cat food and some peanut butter. They only ate a little of that. The night after that we put out some bread, peanut butter and some rice. They ate the peanut butter and some of the rice.

A little while ago we heard that bread can make hedgehogs sick. We're not sure if it's true, but we still only put peanut butter out that week.

Hedgehog house improvment

Have you ever seen hedgehog poop? Well probably not. It looks a little like bird poop. The first time we saw the poop on the wooden floor of the house we decided that it would be easier if we just had the house on the ground, with grass as the carpet. We took off the wooden floor and ramp and changed the flat roof into an A Frame (Triangle). We also painted the roof to help keep the water out.

On the left of the photo is the webcam that we set up and all of the bits of duct tape are holding up infa-red lights so the camera can see without scaring the hedgehogs!

The last name of Cranberry is.....

MOUSSE - Oh oh Cranberry Mousse,

Cranberry Mousse is very cute!

Oh oh Cranberry Mousse!

p.s. If you don't know what cranberry mousse is, it's a mousse (like chocolate mousse) that's made of cranberries! Yummy!

Hedgehog up close

Here are some photos that Daddy took of Cranberry on the 16th of November.

Cranberry

We welcome the smallest and newest hedgehog into the family! Meet Cranberry!! As we were getting ready for bed last night, the alarm went off and we hurried outside to see who had come. As we peered at his spikes we realized that there was no orange paint. We called Mommy and Daddy outside to see him. Mommy also noticed that his face was a different shade, lighter than the other 2 families' faces (Pumpkin Family and Leidschendam Family). We still need to think of a last name for him. He is sooooo cute! Daddy marked him with a circle.

The Hedge Alert

Buzzz! There goes the hedge alert! Every night after putting food in the house we turn on the hedge alert, a buzzer that is attached to a motion sensor in the hedgehog house. Olibollen arrives first to have supper. At around 7:00 the buzzer goes off and we rush outside with a flashlight. Opening the lid the hedgehog gets scared and sometimes goes still for a moment. Later comes Butterfinger who is very brave, he keeps on eating when we are watching him! He is so cute!

Naming Ceremony

Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! The Naming Ceremony will begin!

The Halloween hedgehog has been named..........

Butterfinger Pumpkin!

Thank you for coming to the Naming Ceremony of the Halloween Hedgehog.

p.s. Butterfinger's brother - Oliebollen

also has the last name Pumpkin.

Oliebollen

The 1st of November was the day that we finished the house, camera and all! We helped Daddy to add infared lights to the roof of the house so the camera could see without scaring the hedgehogs by the light. That night we had a big surprise! Halloween hedgehog was back, but with his brother, who we named Oliebollen! He is our 4th hedgehog! He looks a bit older then the Halloween hedgehog but younger then Hedgey. We put two orange lines on him.

Halloween

On Halloween night while Veronica was off at a sleepover Mommy, Daddy and I saw our first baby hedgehog. Well it probably isn't a baby - maybe a teenager. We continued the custom and added a orange stripe to his back to see if he comes back. He is sooooo cute. We love him, but don't know what to name him. We want something to do with Halloween....eg. Igor or Butterfinger.....but can't decide upon what to do. If you have a suggestion for a name, add a comment on this post. It might not work, but you can try.

Hedgy?....Anastastia?......aaaaaah!

Ever since we saw Anastasia we have wondered.....Which hedgehog is it? Is it Hedgy or Anastasia? We solved this problem by adding some orange fabric paint to each of their backs. Hedgy has 1 spot and Anastasia has 2 spots. They do look a little funny, but now we know who it is. The picture isn't exactly accurate - we got it off the web, but that's the type of thing.

2nd Hedgehog!!

Our second hedgehog was first sighted on Saturday the 24th of October 2009. We think it is a girl because she was much thinner and more elegant than the first one. It was only on the 25th of October that we really knew that there were two. Before that we thought there were, but Mommy and Daddy thought it was the same one. We named the girl hedgehog Anastasia. Their last name is Leidschendam, which supposedly means "Leiden's Bush" in Dutch.

The House

As we told you in the first post we got some wood from a house that was under construction to make a house for our hedgehogs. Daddy cut the wood to size and we helped screw and nail the pieces together. When it was finished it looked amazing! First there was a ramp leading to a small circular doorway. Past that was a room that had the water bowl and the plate of peanut buttered bread. The floor was raised to keep out the wet.

First Hedgehog!!

On the 2nd of October, 2009, while taking Lance for a walk we spotted a hedgehog in our garden. Our friends David and Andrew have hedgehogs in their garden too. We decided we wanted to make a hedgehog house. At the end of our road there was a house going under construction. With Daddy we asked if we could use some of the scrap wood.

We made a lovely house for the hedgehog and were very happy when Mommy and Daddy told us that they had seen the hedgehog in the house we made for him. He was eating the peanut butter and bread that we had put out for him. We decided to call him Hedgy.