Island Pets: Otis the Hedgehog

Otis is a 15-month-old pet African pygmy hedgehog. His full name is Otis Hugo “Huey” Winston Flowers-Potato (of the Coeur d’Alene Flowers-Potatoes, donchaknow, though he lives on Maxwelton Beach now), but he is only ever called that when his owner is cross with him. Most often he is referred to as the Whoof, which is the sound hedgehogs make when they’re snuffling under things, and sometimes Whoofasaurus Rex, Whoofmeister General, or simply His Majesty.

Otis only has one eye, due to an unfortunate incident with his mother’s quills when he was just a hoglet. This doesn’t slow him down at all since hedgehogs rely largely on their sense of smell and sound and are pretty much blind anyway. You wouldn’t think that a one-eyed, nocturnal, sharp-quilled and solitary animal would be much fun to hang out with, and yet he is so charming.

The thing Otis likes to do most days is sleep, being nocturnal and all. But in the small hours of dawn and dusk his other passion is running. Yes! Otis loves to run (some say pet hedgehogs run as much as five miles each night), and he has a sturdy wheel in his cage for what his owners refer to as “legs day”- and every day is legs day for Otis the Hedgehog.

Weighing in at 16 ounces, Otis is a linebacker of an animal. That’s a whole pound of hog! Thankfully, he’s done growing and (we hope) won’t get much bigger. When he’s not running or sleeping, he enjoys digging, hiding under things, the occasional warm bath, and curling into a pointy ball when he’s alarmed.