Ježek by Chipka
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Description
During my final year in the Czech Republic, I worked at the Golden Sickle, a rather vibrant and eccentric hostel in Prague.
On the nights I was required to man the reception desk, I made sure keep a book with me, as well as my well-used laptop. As was my custom, I kept to the kitchen area and the common room rather than the front office because…well…during late night hours, it’s quite nice to catch up tea-drinking and television viewing, and well…if there were Hungarian poker players in the hostel, it was fun to peek in on their incredibly polite rounds of Texas Hold ‘em. I’m still in touch with the poker players, by the way, and at least three of them are looking forward to showing me around Budapest, and probably teaching me the more colorful and, um, lurid aspects of the Hungarian language. So far, the only bit of Hungarian I know is a small piece of dialogue from the Ridley Scott movie Blade Runner. For those who’ve seen the film, the bit where Gaff, played by Edward-James Olmos speaks to Dekkart (Harrison Ford) at the noodle joint in what is supposed to be in a futuristic street language. It’s not. It’s Hungarian.
On one particular stretch of nights—minus Poker-playing Hungarians with impeccable manners—I dealt with another sort of guest. The non-paying kind. The kind who will wander through any open door, sniffing after edible worms and insects. I learned, on a particular stretch of nights, that the rat-things I’d commonly seen in Prague weren’t rats at all. They were hedgehogs. I also learned that Czechs like hedgehogs quite a lot; they get mushy and sentimental when they see them; they go “ooh” and “aah” and start talking in baby-talk voices to the animals in question. The hedgehogs, for their part, largely ignore the humans doting over them and continue sniffing after worms and bugs and the other little things that comprise their diet.
On a particular stretch of nights, yes, minus the Poker-playing Hungairans—I had a series of regular hedgehog visitations. On the first night, the creature in question simply wandered into the common room, sniffed around the walls, meandered into the kitchen, still sniffing along the walls. He paused, on occasion, to eat a spider or an ant, or something ill-defined, then ambled on. He never stayed for long. In fact he stayed only long enough to sniff the perimeters of two rooms before walking back out of the door and into the courtyard.
I told Kača and Marushka about it following the first visitation. Kača launched into a touching rhapsody on the cuteness of hedgehogs and how they reminded her of little old men with no teeth. Marushka gave advice on how to get rid of them, should they become a nuisance, as apparently they do in her native Ukraine. From what I was able to gather, the best way to get rid of a hedgehog is to simply stamp your feet, and say (in Ukrainian, or Czech for that matter) “Go away.” Apparently, that’s all it takes.
Marushka always had advice on how to get rid of something, or how to get something for free; she always knew which stores had the best shampoo on sale. I learned the foot-stomping maneuver when I showed her this picture. By that point, Kača was done with her lovely and touching “Ode to a Hedgehog” and was busy thumbing through a clothing catalog while listening The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun.” Later that day, she informed me that the Czech word for hedgehog is “ježek.” (Pronounced "Yeh-ZHEK." It is also a common family name…look in a Czech phone book and you’ll find lots of people with that particular last name.)
Needless to say, that was a good day, and now that I’m in Chicago, I really miss wandering hedgehogs that remind Kača of little old men.
***
As always, thank you for viewing and reading and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week.
Comments (26)
watapki66
Wonderful shot and a great story.. the wandering hedgehog! After stomping your feet it probably doesn't matter what language you say, "go away".
myrrhluz
Wonderful image and narrative! I'd be right along with Kača rhapsodizing of the charms of hedgehogs. I encountered them a few times in England and love watching them amble along. He definitely looks lazily busy sniffing for grub. Hungarians playing polite rounds of Texas Hold'em, that's a wonderful image too. Very enjoyable read and great capture! I haven't been around much. I've been walking myself into nights of physical exhaustion and mental sleepiness. I'm having a great time though!
zoren
very cool....!
KatesFriend
Well I do believe that the little fellow/gal is smiling for the camera. No doubt this isn't the first hostel he/she has visited. And probably knows where the best arthropods can be found for little effort - 'bugs are so stupid'. It's interesting how differing cultures relate to such creatures. Czechs view hedgehogs with fondness, people from the Ukraine see them as a nuisance - though not enough to harm them fortunately, just scare them. It's curious how what might be a dull evening can be flipped by the doings of such a little life form.
beachzz
I love how you take such ordinary (well, if hedgehogs can be called ordinary, they really aren't in my neck of the woods!!) things, and tell the greatest stories. I also think it's really sweet that Czech people like them so much and get all silly and emotional when they see them.
whaleman
Cute shot! I think many people like this little mammal. We don't have them here in Alberta but I think I'd like them as well. Just out of curiosity, I checked our phone book but there was no Ježek listed, but a few were close.
zulaan
Beautiful little guy !
helanker
ROFLMAO !!! I just couldnt wait to read this and I am happy I did. I find it so very funny, the story and the little hedgehog is sooo cute... Here we give them water, but not milk as it will give the pain in the stomage :-)))Sometimes they get cream mixed with water. Excellent capture and story LOL !!!
Meisiekind
Your narrative is real and very touching and makes me want to Ohhh and Aaahhh over this little critter myself - just like Kaca... Amazing writing Chip and an equally stunning shot of Mr Cute here! Well done my friend!
jmb007
charmant compagnon!!
kgb224
Wonderful capture and story my friend.
auntietk
I used to work with a woman who kept a hedgehog as a pet. They're nocturnal, so I believe it was a bit more of a challenge than she had anticipated! How very odd it was to see snapshots of a hedgehog reclining amongst decorative pillows on a bed. Sounds like more than just Czechs get all ooshy about hedgehogs! LOL! Speaking of former colleagues with strange pets ... one of them had a pet possum. What a mess! THAT didn't last long, either. :P
flavia49
fantastic story!! cute little "riccio" (Italian for hedgehog)!!!
Sepiasiren
awww, now see, I can get with this cute little critter--he is awesome...
MrsRatbag
I'm with the cooing crowd, probably because we don't have them here either; and your ramblings are, as always, vastly entertaining!
bmac62
By now I feel like I've worked in the Golden Sickle too:) A quick glance at my Leavenworth, Kansas telephone book tells me there are no Jezek families living here...or at least none with a home phone they care to list. But then these days more and more people like to remain under the radar and only keep a cell phone. By any chance did your photographic subject here have a cell phone with him? Yes, just look at that face. Who wouldn't love one of these for a pet. Before going to bed, you'd just open the back door and put the hedgehog out for the night. All quite natural. LOL. Neat photo of a charming character and a lot more insight into life in Prague. Well written...your narratives just carry me right along like a log floating downstream. Super. BTW, have you ever seen any of the old WWII movies where destroyers are firing off depth charges...the charges used to bring U-505 to the surface (your Chicago WWII German submarine) were called, "Hedgehogs" and I have a picture or two of them...I'll see if I can find them.
adrie
This is such a lovely and cute photoshot my friend, excellent capture.
durleybeachbum
here we feed them with dogfood and porridge. Because I live on a main road many slow ones have been killed, and it is said that the survivors will breed a new faster race of the animal!
sandra46
SPECTACULAR STORY!!!! and I like that hedgehog, we call it 'porcospino', freely translated as "prickly piggy"....;-D
danapommet
Cute little spiny bugger. Wonderful narrative Chip. Dana
faroutsider
A hedgehog's eye view of ... a hedgehog! Lovely beast, super narrative. I'll raise you another twenty...
romanceworks
Ohhhhh, I'd be cooing my head off if I ever saw a hedgehog ... heck, I was cooing at this picture. Maybe it's that tiny little head with that huge body. And your wonderful words were a nice accompaniment to this little critter. CC
MagikUnicorn
COOL BEAST :)
CoreyBlack
Isn't this the infamous Spiney Norman I've heard so much about? DINSDALE !!!!! Well, anyway, enough of that. Nice picture. I'd never actually seen a hedgehog before. It's interesting to see the visual to the story you told me when you first got back from Prague. Nice shot.
Hubba1
Oh this is outstanding, Dont think I have seen a real one... Does sonic count? :)
Djavad
Un adorable animal qui fouine dans la campagne !