flora margaret

photo credits (all taken by my daughter):
1. dandy showing off his sniffer
2. dandy in the dandelions, smiling?
3. dandy goes to college
please ask permission before using any photos

Meet Dandelion, my daughter’s pet. She had him at school with her for a few weeks, but he was too noisy at night so he’s back with us. She took these amazing photos with a tiny Canon Powershot pocket camera– smaller than an iPhone. Talented lady.

A couple of weeks ago I warned against getting a pug for a pet. I didn’t mean it. You know that. I meant it to prepare you for the joys of pug ownership—real talk.

However, I do mean it when I say don’t get a hedgehog. Really, this time I’m serious.

Hedgehogs are cute and interesting, but that wears out after a few weeks. What you’re left with is a cage to clean weekly, and even worse, what our family so crassly calls, “the wheel of poop” to clean.

Hedgehogs are nocturnal and are used to traveling miles at night. So, at night, Dandy gets on his wheel (unlike a hamster, wheel this one is solid) and he runs and poops all night long. His food has molasses in it. Nuff said.

They really don’t like people. When touched, they puff up into a painfully spiky ball and huff and jerk in a small, sudden way to try to spike you. If you leave them alone they will calm down and then they walk around (and poop randomly while walking) and explore— just don’t touch. You can put them on your lap, or hold them in your hand— as long as you are not touching their spikes, they relax and will start poking around with their noses. What they are looking for is a small dark hole to hide in- a way to escape from YOU.

If you ever want a hedgehog reality check, let me know. We will need someone to take care of Dandy when we go on vacation this summer. We will bring his cage, his food, protective gloves, the wheel of poop, and a wire brush and small chisel for cleaning it.