The Visitor....

 So.... we had a visitor tonight!  Can you guess what it was from this photo?

 How about this one?  Can you see the little eyes and nose in the middle?   Yep.   A hedgehog!

Kiwi the wunderdog found it in our backyard around midnight.  I let her out (to do what dogs need to do), and she ran around the backyard, whining and sniffing around a board.  I assumed she had lost a ball there.  I lifted the board back from the fence, she darted in, grabbed what I assumed was a ball and let it go on the grass with a wierd tossing movement.  Then she crouched and barked a the thing. It was dark already, so I wasn't sure what was up.  At first I thought it was a clod of grass or turf..... but no....  i could sense some movement

Duncan grabbed a container, and we scooped it up for a closer look inside.  I was happy to watch it from a distance. Kiwi was interested in checking out the hedgehog...but she was torn.  It wasn't a squirrel, and she did not seem to want to put her mouth around it a second time!  

 Alex was braver than the rest of us (kiwi, duncan and I)...he was willing to pick it up and talk to it  ... though he did note that it was like holding a ball of pins!

I gotta say, the little thing was totally fun to watch!  it pulls itself into such a tight little ball that only a hint of its nose shows in the middle.  After we all got a chance to touch the quills, we took it back out to the garden to set it free.   it is not fast moving, but it is an amazing little animal nonetheless.   If you are interested in more on the mighty Hedgehog, you could check out "Steve C"'s blog.