I originally typed this up a few days ago...and when I went to publish it the next morning, the little guy was gasping his last. That's why you don't type anything up, I guess.
I was and still am incredibly sad about this turn of events. I thought I would skip the entry entirely, but then I thought I'd like to show you a little bit about pet ownership in Cambodia. I'd also like to do something to honor his memory. He brought me such intense happiness, for such a short time.
The original text is below.
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I have a confession to make: I am a small animal addict. As you may have gathered from my obsessive love for abandoned baby sparrows and wingless butterflies, I'm the sort of person who needs a pet or two around the house to feel complete. Every day, I walk home from school past the little curbside petstores. I have to touch every animal in every cage, talk to each, tell it how wonderful, special, and loveable it is, and then walk away dreaming about which one EXACTLY I will buy when I remember to bring enough money.
I'm like one of those mentally-ill pigeon ladies in New York City who just sort of lives under a cloud of cooing birds, carrying all her possessions in a large bag: I just like having animals around me, to a creepy and excessive degree.
Well, a couple of weeks ago, one of the petstores had a new cage, filled with four tiny spikey things: BABY HEDGEHOGS. Each day, I planned my strike: one of those insanely cute little balls of quills would be MINE. I just had to amass enough pocket change and read up on how to keep them.
In a couple of days, one disappeared, then the other a couple of days later. Starting to panic, I returned to the store to choose among the remaining two.
By this time, I'd read that male hedgehogs make more laid-back pets than females, who tend to get nestie. (I've kept pet rats before and know how this can be with them). Luckily, one was male.
Unluckily, though, he was albino (read: ugly and possum-like). He was also in bad need of medical attention, having his right arm badly injured. It had been cut to the muscle all the way around. Seeds were matted into his bloody fur. His arm was swollen and immobile.
You know what that means--the little alarm bells went off in my brain: it needs you, holyrockthrower...IT NEEDS YOU. So I bought it.
You know what? Hedgehogs are expensive, in the US and in Cambodia, too. I basically had no spending money all week since I spent it all on the animal (I know, I could just go to the bank, but I'm trying to save up for a motorbike), and I had to eat slices of bread all week...but he is MINE. ALL MIIIINE!
Anyway, I've got some pictures. His injury is healing, and he's pretty much the cutest little baby I've ever seen.
Sleeping baby.
His little piggy nose.
Ugly and possum-like. (Damn right he's between my breasts.)
Aww...
Here's a video I made of him:
Hi there, do you mind telling me where was that pet store? I want to have a hedgehog as well but I wasnt able to find one in Phnom Penh.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks
Hi Marko
ReplyDeleteI'm not exactly sure of the street number, I think it's street 63. It's the street that feeds into Central Market, it runs north to south.
Go south from Central Market and you'll come to several roadside pet places before you reach Sihanouk Blvd. It's maybe a 10-25 minute walk.
The hedgehogs seem quite popular, so there may still be some. If not, head back periodically. Just a warning, though, I haven't had very good luck with them in the past--they come from a hedgehog farm in Thailand and don't seem to have been bred for longetivity. Choose one that seems friendly.
Lol, I meant 10-15 minute walk, btw.
ReplyDelete