Wix the Black Labrador vs Hedgehog
My dog Wix can't be accused of being overly bright. She's kind,
loving, cuddly, goofy, sweet, and many other rather positive
attributes. But if she were a 100 watt bulb, she'd be on a dimmer. A
sandwhich short of a picnic. 'Tis the nature of Labradors, I think.
evening. I went to investigate, and there was the Big Blak Wunder
Dawg, wagging her tail, looking at me, and a hedgehog rolled up in a
ball in the middle of the kitchen floor!!! I picked up the wee critter
(the hedgehog, nothing "wee" about Wix), and got it safely out in our
backyard. It seems we have a family of hedgehog around. They can't be
too bright themselves to live so close to two big dogs. Anyway... Last night, I let Wix out while I do my evening routine of brushing
teeth, etc. I get back to the kitchen to close the back door and make
sure Wix is in. Ohhh, she was in all right. In the dining room, at
that. I opened the door to the dining room to find Wix sitting,
looking up at me, wagging her tail. There was blood EVERYWHERE. I
first looked at her paws, hoping she hadn't stepped on anything sharp,
but her paws were fine. I then thought "mouth", and forced her mouth
open, to find a half dozen hedgehog spines lodged in there. I stuck my fingers in, pulled the spines out. Wix wasn't too happy,
but she's a good sort and let me do it. Next, came cleaning up the
carpet, and furniture. Did I mention there were blood drips all over
the place? I mean... ALL OVER. It looked like a carnage had taken
place. I was worried for the hedgehog, which I couldn't see anywhere.
I got on the ground, and with some fresh cold water and a rag, I
sponged out all the blood drips on the floor. I also picked out more
hedgehog spines from the carpet. About three dozens of the tiny SHARP
things. Oh, did I mention that by this time it's nearly 2am???? Once everything cleaned, I went looking for the hedgehog. Easy to
find, dropped behind a bag, in the dining room. I picked it up and
examined it for wounds. There were two areas that seemed a bit bloody,
but if it was the critter's blood, they weren't deep wounds. I got it
back into the yard. Had another look at Wix's mouth, clearly could see many small cuts.
Nothing major, but infection was a worry. So, not knowing what else to
do, I used the only anti-bacterial product I had on hand: Listerine!!!
I soaked some cotton buds in Listerine and swiped the inside of Wix's
mouth with them. She wasn't overly impressed. She fought me a little
bit, but I managed to swipe all the cut areas :) I have NO idea if
it'll make a real difference, but it made me feel better. This morning, she's sound asleep on the couch, snoring. I had a look
at her mouth earlier and all looks good. Reminded me of my father's old black lab, Moustache. Who used to chase
porcupines. And got spines stuck in her mouth every time. Never
learned, the silly bitch. I do hope we figure out how to stop Wix from
attacking hedgehogs, because it's not good for the hedgehogs, not good
for the dog, and not good for us!!!
