I Took 38 Adorable Hedgehog Photos Showing How People React To Them

In 2013, my daughter asked me what I wanted for the holidays. I jokingly said, “A hedgehog.” At the time, I didn’t even know if owning one was legal or realistic. Exotic pets are illegal in several states, including New York and California, but luckily, hedgehogs are legal in Ohio. To my surprise, my daughter gifted me a tiny hoglet named Kitty.

Many of the photos featured in this post were taken during everyday life – at craft shows where I worked as a vendor, at my job, birthday parties, retirement homes, an elementary school, restaurants, and even during hair appointments. I never charge for visits.

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A lot of the pictures are from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. I’m a bleeding-heart liberal, but Al Roker was only about 10 miles from my house, so I grabbed Kitty and Boo (hedgehog #2) and drove downtown. Tamron Hall tweeted our photo, as did Monica Potter. We stalked Jesse Watters, met Colin Jost and Michael Che, and ended up on TV and in a magazine. My hedgehogs were even featured in Today Show mugs for Willie Geist’s mug shots.

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Other pictures were taken on the set of the movie Cherry. My daughter worked on the set and invited me to visit with one of the hedgehogs. The cast and crew absolutely loved it. A reporter on set told me he was more excited to meet a hedgehog than any of the actors. Tom Holland even shared a story from his childhood in England, where large hedgehogs roam freely. One had once wandered onto his front doorstep, and his grandmother nearly used it as a boot cleaner until his brother Harry shouted to stop her. Harry later posted a photo on Instagram. Ciara Bravo loved the hedgie too, along with the rest of the cast and crew.

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The other nine hedgehogs I’ve had came from people who adopted them and later decided they couldn’t care for them anymore. Hedgehogs aren’t great pets for college students because they’re nocturnal, and they’re not ideal for small children since they can bite or poke with their quills.

Bred hedgehogs typically live up to five years. Unfortunately, they’re prone to health issues like wobbly hedgehog syndrome and tumors.

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