Poke the Hedgehog

In America we have raccoons, skunks, and foxes that roam around at night.  In Kenya we have mongooses, genets, and hedgehogs.  We hadn't seen any of these nocturnal creatures yet, but recently some friends surprised us by bringing a hedgehog to our house just as the boys were getting into bed.  They had found it right outside their house, near the shamba, busily slurping up termites.

On a sidenote, you know you have good friends when they love your kids enough to run across the compound with a hedgehog because they want to show it to these animal-loving boys before they fall asleep and miss their chance!

The boys affectionately named this cutie "Poke" which we thought was rather appropriate.  It was hard to get a picture with his face since he was completely curled up most of the time, but he once snuck his face out for a peek and I snapped a quick photo.  If you look closely, you can see termites stuck to his quills.  I'm sure they made for a yummy "take and go" snack after we let him go!

To say our boys were excited would be an understatement.  This was the highlight of the week!  This was something we could check off our list of "animals we've seen in Kenya" which we keep track of by putting stars next to entries in our books Mammals of East Africa, Snakes, Other Reptiles and Amphibians of East Africa, Birds of East Africa, and Insects of East Africa.  These boys keep very close tabs on what we've seen and where we've seen them, and there is soooo much excitement whenever there's a new find.

Caleb is in a strong "I want to go on a night safari" phase so a few weeks ago we walked around the compound at night as a family, just in case we'd see something roaming around in the dark.  No such luck.  But his hopes remain high and this hedgehog only increased his hopes of finding more nocturnal creatures.  He's determined to see a mongoose in its natural habitat, or a genet or a civet or some bats.  This boy will not be deterred.  It's that kind of determination that makes a good naturalist, which is what he wants to be when he grows up.  We think he's well on his way!