Queenie
I made this Community card for my hedgehog Queenie. She came into my life after I responded to an email request for a temporary caregiver for a mother and daughter pair of animals used in therapeutic nature programs by an organization where I volunteer, The Nature Connection. After several talks with her owner, who was going on a year's sabbatical, Queenie and her daughter were brought to me August 27, 2006. Queenie was extraordinarily gentle and outgoing for a hedgehog, which is to say, she never curled up or hissed. The vet said she was one of the easiest hedgehog patients he had. I took her to church for The Blessing of the Animals three times, and on numerous programs. In 2007, the owners returned and decided that they wanted to find a new home for their pets, so I volunteered to become their permanent owner. In April, 2008, Queenie began to have trouble walking, and by August, had lost the use of her rear legs. I suspect it was Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome; the vet called it "a neuropathy hedgehogs sometimes develop." One morning in August, I found Teeny bullying her, and separated them permanently. I handfed Queenie for the next six months, and she looked up eagerly whenever I entered the room, clamping onto the water dropper with vigor. She died peacefully on March 13, 2009 while I was at work. She was five, an average life span for these creatures, but she was an extraordinary little soul who taught me a lot about caregiving.
Labels: hedgehog
posted by ptarmigal | 3:09 AM
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