I spent this past weekend in Regina, visiting with Layne's family. The roads weren't actually all that bad, and as predicted, Hazel slept most of the way down. She even ate the little bits of kibble I left in her carrier, proving that she doesn't get car sick. I don't know how she'd handle long drives, but I'd definitely take short trips with her again.
The weekend itself was filled with more relaxing. Layne and I got caught up on our CSI-watching, and were once again reminded why we don't have cable. There's not enough good show on to warrant the cost, and the ads (and some of the programming) make me want to pluck out my own eyeballs just to escape the stupid. We also spent some time cooking. I made sushi with Layne's mom, and Layne cooked up a huge batch of padthai, and an amazing marinated steak salad with lime dressing. Yum!
Not that we just sat around all weekend. Layne and I have long been thinking of ways to get Hazel more exercise. She's afraid of her wheel, and seems to think that the giant hamster ball I got is just a rather odd place to sleep in. So we came up with the idea of a large playpen for her to run around in. Up until now, any time that she's been out for exercise, I've had to watch her like a hawk to make sure she doesn't climb into/under/fall off/get stuck under anything and everything. Layne came up with a simple and elegant solution. HIs idea was to build a series of boards, roughly 18 inches in length, with each boards attatched by two hinges so that the whole can be folded up into a small pile when it's not is use.
The finished product met with Hazel's approval. She ran around in the first night for just under an hour, and then promptly climbed the hinges like some sort of spastic monkey and launched herself over the top at me. If you've never seen a hedgehog climb, then imagine a short, round sausage with stubby limbs stretching itself as far vertically as it possibly can, flailing around with said stubby limbs until it manages to catch one on the top of the boards, and then hiking a stubby backleg onto the lowest of the hinges and suddenly lunging upwards to catch itself on its belly atop the board. Imagine the momentary uncertainty as to whether it will pitch backwards off the board or remain wedged there awkwardly balanced about the midsection, legs dangling, whole body slowly rocking back and forth. Then, imagine the frantic thrashing of limbs as it attempts to swim in the air, and your shock when it actually succeeds and comes crashing tumbling down the other side into your waiting hands. Imagine that this only takes a few seconds.
Freaking. Hilarious.
The weekend itself was filled with more relaxing. Layne and I got caught up on our CSI-watching, and were once again reminded why we don't have cable. There's not enough good show on to warrant the cost, and the ads (and some of the programming) make me want to pluck out my own eyeballs just to escape the stupid. We also spent some time cooking. I made sushi with Layne's mom, and Layne cooked up a huge batch of padthai, and an amazing marinated steak salad with lime dressing. Yum!
Not that we just sat around all weekend. Layne and I have long been thinking of ways to get Hazel more exercise. She's afraid of her wheel, and seems to think that the giant hamster ball I got is just a rather odd place to sleep in. So we came up with the idea of a large playpen for her to run around in. Up until now, any time that she's been out for exercise, I've had to watch her like a hawk to make sure she doesn't climb into/under/fall off/get stuck under anything and everything. Layne came up with a simple and elegant solution. HIs idea was to build a series of boards, roughly 18 inches in length, with each boards attatched by two hinges so that the whole can be folded up into a small pile when it's not is use.
The finished product met with Hazel's approval. She ran around in the first night for just under an hour, and then promptly climbed the hinges like some sort of spastic monkey and launched herself over the top at me. If you've never seen a hedgehog climb, then imagine a short, round sausage with stubby limbs stretching itself as far vertically as it possibly can, flailing around with said stubby limbs until it manages to catch one on the top of the boards, and then hiking a stubby backleg onto the lowest of the hinges and suddenly lunging upwards to catch itself on its belly atop the board. Imagine the momentary uncertainty as to whether it will pitch backwards off the board or remain wedged there awkwardly balanced about the midsection, legs dangling, whole body slowly rocking back and forth. Then, imagine the frantic thrashing of limbs as it attempts to swim in the air, and your shock when it actually succeeds and comes crashing tumbling down the other side into your waiting hands. Imagine that this only takes a few seconds.
Freaking. Hilarious.
posted by Alina at
8:12 AM
2 Comments:
On the plus side, she hasn't seriously tried to climb out since that first night. I think adding even 2 inches of cardboard at the top of each board, and/or covering the hinges with duct tape, will prevent her from having any chance of escape. For now, she's slowly getting used to it. :)
By
xenophile, at 12:13 AM
Oh, and it's worth noting that it takes her like, 12 tries to manage it. :-D
By
xenophile, at 12:14 AM
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