Hedgelings

Right at the beginning of July, I arrived home one day and heard little chirping sounds somewhere in the room. (Boy do I get lots of surprises coming home.) Wondering how a bird could have flown in, I searched the living room...the last place I looked was Harry, my fat girl (Yes, I named her Harry.) hedghog's aquarium...and to my horror I saw a lump of something under her belly!

"She's a he!?"

Yet to my further horror, I spotted 3 more of these pink lumps lying around her!

The realization soon hit me that Harry was, to my dissapointment(?), indeed a girl, but the whole time I was calling her "fat Harry" she was carrying 4 babies, and that day when I came home, Harry had just given birth!

Since then it has been 3 weeks and three of the babies are growing very well. Unfortunately the fourth didn't make it after a week or so. He had been smaller than the others and wasn't growing like his siblings. Even in an aquarium, nature is harsh.

Today while changing their pine shavings, I noticed that the little hedgelings had finally opened their eyes! They are getting plumper every day and now, barely squinting, they are able to see the blurry world around them. I pick them up often, much to the mother's discontent, just to let them become accustomed to human touch. They are never scared (brave babies, considering being kidnapped by a giant!), but just start licking around before they puke out white foam onto their fur. I learned this is how they get accustomed to new smell. Phew.

Well, now with a fresh smelling home, they should be able to huddle together comfortably.

the Fridge: an unlikely source of Terrorism

I came home a few days ago after work, just to pick up my school books to run back into town for class. To my surprise I was greeted by something that almost blew me back out the door.

I don't know if you've had milk in the fridge for too long in one of those plastic cartons. Well, our fridge has had one for about as long as China has been around, and I have just been too lazy these days to throw it out.

I didn't consider if as any threat since those screw on caps are pretty tight.

Well I found out the hard way that day that even tight caps can't hold forever... The milk carton was so full with the fermented gasses that it exploded in the fridge and had leaked through the gap for the fridge door to form a puddle in the kitchen.

The welcoming stench of aging milk was what greeted me home.

Now a few days after, I am doing a massive cleaning of the wreck of my apartment before I move out. I've finished the dishes and am about the tackle the exploded milk. Dare I open that fridge door...the source of terrorism in our house.

I just thought I would write something here beforehand since it could be my first and last post.

I'm going in. Wish me luck.