The Friendly Hedgehog
How Grandpa Hedgehog Lost His Family
Grandpa Hedgehog lived in an old and worn out, but charming, and cozy little cottage with a beautiful garden full of colorful wildflowers. Nobody in his little village really knew him, because he preferred to keep to himself. Needless to say, this encouraged many strange rumors among his neighbors. But this didn’t bother the old hedgehog. After all, he had seen and survived too many things in his long life to worry about the ever-changing opinion of other animals.
Apart from this, his neighbors didn’t really think badly of him. They just didn’t have a better use of their time than to speculate and chat and gossip about their fellow animals. In general, they actually liked the old hedgehog, whose hair and quills always seemed a tad too mingled up and chaotic, and therefore gave him a look of a confused old professor. In addition, he seemed to always carry a big smile on his face, which made it impossible to direct any feelings of dislike or discomfort toward him.
On his long lonely evenings, the old hedgehog was sitting in front of the fire and thought about all his loved ones. His own grandma and grandpa, his mother and father, his brothers and sisters, his wife, children, and grandchildren. They had been a huge family living all together in this little village, so, you might imagine the ongoing hustle and bustle when everybody was inviting and visiting each other. All villagers lived peacefully together: the hedgehogs, the squirrels, the mice, the sparrows, and the wild ducks.
Only the local swans sometimes caused some problems because of their rather snobbish attitude that suggested that they were superior to the other animal residents. But even this was just a minor flaw in their overall harmonious community.
In short: Life was good. The hedgehog teenagers fall in love with each other and got cute little hedgehog babies. The moment those little ones could stand on their still rather fragile feet, they would turn into mischievous little rascals. Their favorite game was planting funny pranks in their neighbors’ gardens. Like overly energetic tornados they tended to keep their respective mums and dads, who unsuccessfully tried to stop them, busy day and night. Maybe after a few nights without sleep, the parents of these little bundles of joy wouldn’t agree fully on being part of a ‘harmonious community’. But after thinking twice and remembering their own little pranks which were after thorough reflection far worse, they would just smile tiredly but with a mixture of parental pride and understanding.
So overall, it was a safe and happy little community. Everybody knew each other and in case of any emergencies or need of help, the animals could rely on their friends and neighbors.
Until that fateful time, when all of a sudden things began to change. It must have been at the end of a long, steaming hot summer, which was in itself a very unusual thing as the animal community was used to a more temperate climate.
A rather strange disease started circling around that weakened the entire village. Out of fear, every family stayed pretty much to their own kind. The hedgehogs to their closest relatives, the squirrels to their clans, and the sparrow families to their bird community. There was no happy mingling anymore, no visiting, and no chatting in this once lively and beautifully green place of the earth.
But even this quite easy-to-understand strategy of self-preservation and survival instinct didn’t prevent the inhabitants of the little village from decreasing in numbers: in the beginning just slowly, insidiously, and therefore by many undetected, but then at such a terrifying speed that it was impossible to ignore.
Grandpa Hedgehog sighed, staring blindly into the fireplace where the flames performed their merry dance, lost in dear memories of times long gone. He didn’t remember when it all began. Maybe when those giant creatures with two legs entered the outskirts of their little community and started building huge walls and fences. In the beginning, he and his family were so lucky that their little village was spared. But the intruders seemed to move closer each and every day. From the trees that surrounded their little village, the hedgehog clan could hear cries and sobbing whenever one of the giant oak trees that served their friends, the squirrels, as a home and nesting place fell victim to a loud buzzing thing that was nothing else than a heartless electrical saw.
As time went by the intruders closed in more and more and the green spots and secret places with yummy food such as juicy worms and crispy insects became less and less until they vanished entirely.
Every day, those walls came closer and closer, threatening to crush the little village under their heavy weight. There was no place to breathe deeply anymore. No green spots and no delicious treats to keep body, mind, and spirit high, strong, and healthy. The days when the friendly hedgehog could find refreshing berries in the fields that once surrounded the little village were long over. The luscious deep green of the fields and bushes was replaced by hard gray concrete that hurt the little feet of our friend so much, that he preferred to stay on the now very tiny little spot of remaining grass. Apart from this very cruel limitation of his formerly very luscious daily menu, which might have been also the cause of the dramatic rise in diseases due to weakness and undernourishment, the little hedgehog had to face other challenges.
But what can be more trying than only a pawful of grass as a meal each day? You might ask rightfully if you belong to those who love food as much as our friendly hedgehog.
I couldn’t agree more! But imagine, that on top of the rather boring, bland, unsatisfying food, you have to endure a noise that is so intense and overwhelming that it wouldn’t surprise you if it were capable of moving mountains! And this dreadful sound of the insatiably hungry electrical saw is coming closer and closer each day until it’s right in front of the porch of your little cottage! Wouldn’t you agree that this together with the lack of rich yummy food is simply too much?
Well, our little hero and his family thought the same. For them, the situation they found themselves in was very real and very terrifying.
The now older version of the once young little hedgehog sighed again deeply, and a big tear rolled down his wrinkled cheek. So many of his friends and relatives perished or disappeared in the time to come, leaving him rather sick and alone in the little cottage that miraculously survived the invasion of the intruders. Left him with only his memories whilst the closer neighborhood started to fill up again with a new generation of animals from the cities where they were used to those terrifying two-legged giants, their loud destructive sawing companion, and entire landscapes made of concrete. They were even used to eating food that was left by those intruders. Food that was not juicy and fresh at all, but dry and lifeless instead.
Grandpa Hedgehog sighed once more, remembering how long he has waited for one or even more of his beloved ones to return. Waited to suddenly see a familiar face popping up behind the window. Until now, he has waited in vain, but he wouldn’t give up. After all, his long life has taught him, that each day was indeed a new beginning that carried plenty of potential surprises. Sometimes good ones, sometimes not-so-good ones, but each one came with a valuable lesson. And as long as he kept hoping there was a chance, a very little maybe, but still a chance that he was rewarded for keeping the faith until one day an only too familiar face would show up for real. And then two and three and four until his entire close and extended family and all his friends would be together again and the little mischievous rascals, now his grand-grand-children, would perform their funny little pranks just in good old times. Who knows? Life was full of surprises!
🦔 Why the Friendly Hedgehog Needs Your Help, Dear Reader 🦔
Did you know that in Central Europe, where our little friend comes from, and many other regions in this world the situation is very much the same as described in this story?
Apart from their shrinking habitat (which means their natural living environment), the little prickly fellows struggle more and more each day to find nourishing food, not to mention some yummy treats due to the ongoing growth of construction projects. In addition, they face the dangers of roads and highways that are built on their former land. This leads automatically to the decline of hedgehog populations. In short: You will meet fewer and fewer of these cute little animals and soon enough, they might, just like in our story, all disappear leaving Grandpa Hedgehog all alone.
🦔 So, what can we do to prevent this?🦔
If you live in a place with a garden, you can provide shelter for the little fellows. They particularly love bushes, piles of leaves, and brushwood and with a bit of luck, they will choose the safety of your garden to nest and raise a family. Just imagine how it would feel to be the Guardian of Adorable Baby Hedgehogs!!! Because this is exactly what you are going to be! 🦔 🦔 🦔
“We don’t have two hearts, one for animals and one for humans ; we have one heart or we don’t have any.” (Alphonse de Lamartine)
And the moral of this tale? A Call to Action, at least in my humble opinion. Something like: Let’s become more aware of our environment and the damage we cause to the life of our little animal friends and all living things, and take constructive actions by spreading the word and preventing more damage and destruction!
🦔 Can you think of other lessons the story of the Friendly Hedgehog teaches us?
🦔 Or do you have more ideas on how to keep this loveable creature with the adorable snub nose safe?
🦔 Did you maybe encounter one of them or even make friends with him?
🦔 Or did you spot potential relatives of our little Hero in your part of the world?
If the answer to any of these questions is YES, then I would be happy if you share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences in a comment below.
If you like this story, then please don’t forget to share it with your family and friends, and remind them how important it is to care about our fellow animal friends.
And as you are already here, I invite you to read another story you might like: 🐛“The Portly Caterpillar”(https://medium.com/stories-for-kids-and-all-young-at-heart/the-portly-caterpillar-d40564d4be18).
💙 Thank you for Reading!💙
Originally published at https://being-amazed.com on January 21, 2023.
