Picture of the month - June 2014

Johann Survivor

Flag English Johann Survivor

It is a short story about Johann, the hedgehog, having a hard time in life. And Johann, the survivor.

Hedgehogs are protected animals and usually it is not allowed to take them out of their natural habitat. However there are specific conditions such as diseases, under which hedgehogs can be taken home. Johann definitely fell under this specific exemption of the Nature Conservancvy Laws.

His condition was poor when my wife brought him home - underfed, generally too small, hibernation stopped too early before spring really had started, and suffering from skin diseases: He hardly had any hair left in the face area and spines fell out. But Johann faced two lucky circumstances: My wife being an enthusiastic animals lover and conservationist, and more enthusiastic people maintaining specific "Pro-hedgehog" websites or veterinary practices.

An intense care followed over months: Sufficient and hedgehog-suitable feeding, medical support including medicinal baths, veterinary visits and regular checks. A small hedgehog-cage in our cellar gave the necessary peace for Johann to recover from his poor state, gain weight and - finally - just look like a hedgehog again. Nobody really had fully believed in a Happy End when we had initially seen him.

The image was taken at the day, when Johann was freed again into a nearby nature reserve. There he might have met one of the hedgehogs my wife had rescued the years before ... I am wondering what they have talked about.

Johann Survivor

Never give up,
your Mr. Mooseman