# Seen April's National Geographic issue yet?



## Altearithe (Jan 13, 2014)

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...oto-national-geographic-exotic-pets-hedgehog/

A cute hedgie called Jade graces the cover.  Makes me wish my dad still has his subscription to National Geographic; I really would love to read that article....


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## Aether (Nov 18, 2013)

Aw so cuuute!!! Although the title of the article makes me wonder if they have a lot of misinformation on hedgehogs or not.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm gonna guess it's going to be a lot of "exotic pets are bad and make terrible pets and no one should have them at all, everyone should have only dogs and cats for pets", if it's anything like Animal Planet, Humane Society, etc. in recent years. Or at least, that'll be one side of the debate, I'm sure. Also this reminds me I've been wanting to get a subscription to NatGeo!


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## Altearithe (Jan 13, 2014)

I wonder too, Aether. D: 

That's my guess too, Lilysmommy.  I'm hoping that NG didn't go that route, but unless I can get my hands on the issue I won't know for sure. >___< Actually, I should try digging around their site to see if they eventually post up their articles. o.o

(Also, yeah, I've been thinking about getting a sub for it too. XDD Probably should since they've got awesome stuff usually.)


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## Latrine (Mar 4, 2014)

I'm actually getting my baby from the guy whose Hedgehogs were used for the cover photo. 
I haven't read it or anything but, reading what he wrote, it sounds like his participation was just the photo shoot.. I've no idea where the article info comes from.
The website is.. Really bad... :/ 
I'm only linking it because he has some information about the National Geographic stuff, I hope that's okay

http://carolinahedgehog.net

- Sarah


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## PennyRosa (Mar 2, 2014)

The article is about exotic animal ownership. I teach sixth grade, and this article is perfect for many reasons. First, my kids all know about Penny so they will love the cover. Also, the article is all about what we have been investigating in our argumentative writing unit. I was able to find a link to the article online, but also bought the magazine, so I will try to find it. 

The article is not really about hedgehogs. They just picked the cutest exotic to feature on the cover.


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## PennyRosa (Mar 2, 2014)

Here is the article! http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/04/exotic-pets/slater-text

Here is the story behind the cover! http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...oto-national-geographic-exotic-pets-hedgehog/


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## zorropirate (Aug 13, 2010)

Did I miss something... did they discuss hedgehog's at all in that article??


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## lilsurfergrlsp (Dec 13, 2013)

In the actual article, I don't think hedgehogs are mentioned at all. The author focused more on "wild" animals that were kept as pets (such as tigers, wolves, zebras, monkeys, etc), not necessarily domesticated exotics. This is quoted in the article: "The term exotic pet has no firm definition; it can refer to any wildlife kept in human households—or simply to a pet that’s more unusual than the standard dog or cat." Backyard breeding, the underground exotic animal trade and private exotic ownership/conservation is explored. 


It's really interesting actually, but kind of sad at the same time. Here's another quote that sums up the article: "In the end what we learn from exotic-pet ownership is that when you take the wild out of the wild, you eradicate its true nature and replace it with fantasy—the fantasy being ours, we humans, the animals at once the most and the least tamed of all."


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

*Wondering when someone would mention this!*

I did think it was odd that hedgehogs were not even mentioned in the article&#8230;however, I certainly do not think that you can clump hedges in with dangerous exotic animals such as lions, bears, and chimpanzees. I agree that many of these animals should not be allowed to be bred for the animal trade. It was very interesting to see the map of how laws vary from one state to the next and there are not any regulations across the board.

I have owned 3 hedgehogs now, the most recent being a rescue and I have often thought about these issues and how it relates to my feelings about keeping and/or breeding exotic pets. In the end, I more or less feel that there are enough unwanted pets out there. I have mixed feelings about it, which begs the question, is this guy (the one with the hedgie on the cover) affiliated w/ the IHA or HWS? If not, perhaps he should be encouraged to join. How in the world did National Geographic find this particular guy?

-Susan H.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I got a chance to read the article before class and I do really like it. Much better than expected, and very good points were made. I don't get a chance to read from NatGeo much and after the last article I read about wildlife in Time magazine, I was a bit apprehensive that it was going to be obviously geared towards one side of the argument (and the one that seems to be heard most recently is the "ban all exotics, have only cats & dogs" one). A lot of exotics kept as pets just really don't do well in captivity. And with a lot of them, very few people are able to provide the correct care, diet, etc. Rather than banning them and just having it become even more lucrative due to the illegal nature, it seems much more productive to introduce heavy guidelines, licensing, and regulations (and actually enforce all of these) to try and manage the actual breeding, sale, and keeping of the animals. Seems like there needs to be a lot better education as well, if people think that they're doing just fine taking care of the animals, or think they're actually helping to "save" the species. There's a major difference between keeping a species alive solely for human entertainment (and having the animals be inbred, unhealthy, etc.) and saving the species to live and flourish as it always has in its natural habitat.


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## Latrine (Mar 4, 2014)

I have no idea how the guy got invited to do the hedgehog photo shoot, I thought it odd since he states that he is 18. 
He does seem VERY nice, though. He's been sending me pictures and answering all my questions. He just recently told me it might take a little longer for my baby to be ready to come home. He says the ones he has now, including mine, are a little smaller than he would like. 
I was a little disappointed, of course, but I was glad he was doing the best thing for his Hedgies.. 
It still seems odd that they didn't pick a more experienced person but If it was only for a picture... 

- Sarah


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I think they made a very poor choice in choosing an unknown college student breeder to portray in the article. One of the HWS or IHA rescues or a well known long time reputable breeder would have been more appropriate. Preferably someone who knows their hedgehogs well enough to not have to go through 9 hedgehogs before getting one who would co-operate for photos. :roll:


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## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

Very interesting article, although I do think hedgehogs are a world apart from tigers, monkeys and kangaroos. 

Sometimes I do wonder if maybe it is wrong to have hedgehogs as pets because their lives don't really serve a purpose except for our own amusement. But then again, our hedgehogs don't really exist in the wild as they are now.

I can't remember who it was but they were against having hedgies as pet because in all the years they've been bred, the breed has not really improved any--they were a strictly rescue owner.

Then I was thinking, with all the uninformed people out there, can you imagine the posts on a tiger board? "My tiger hates me." "My kangaroo has dry skin." 
Can you imagine the vet bills? Or trying to find care for a real "exotic". 

Maybe the best thing to do is to adopt the animals at the zoo, although I was disappointed when I couldn't bring the giraffe home for a day. :wink:

Thanks for posting the link. The front cover is adorable. That's the one thing about hedgehogs--they don't outgrow the cuteness.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

MomLady said:


> Sometimes I do wonder if maybe it is wrong to have hedgehogs as pets because their lives don't really serve a purpose except for our own amusement. But then again, our hedgehogs don't really exist in the wild as they are now.


Well that's the whole pet-thing, isn't it?  It's will always be egoistic to keep pets.

I haven't read the article (yet) but I find it kind of odd that they use a hedgehog on the cover but don't mention them at all.


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## Altearithe (Jan 13, 2014)

I just finished reading the article PennyRosa linked (thank you~ I wasn't sure if it was the same one and totally missed the date in the corner XD). 

It was definitely an interesting read though I wish they talked a bit about hedgies on the other end of the exotic pets spectrum along with those in the artle. It is understandable why they chose the hedgie as a cover though; gotta get those sales, eh? What better way than to appeal to everyone's love of cute? ^^; Whoever was in charge of choosing the subject for the cover knows their psychology well. 


I agree with Nancy too. They should've chosen a breeder that was a bit more reputable or at least more well-known. I also thought it was strange they had to go through so many hedgies for a simple photoshoot even with stuff like softboxes around the place.


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## The_Senator (Dec 31, 2013)

I actually wrote NatGeo a vaguely complaining letter, because I really liked the article, and I really liked the picture, but I think pairing them gave a misleading impression, especially since the article, as has been mentioned, never actually says anything about hedgehogs. Since you haven't been able to import hedgehogs into the US since 1992, all hedgies here are many generations removed from the wild -- I don't think it's the same as keeping bears or chimpanzees at all.


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