Recently I was looking online to get more information on why hedgehogs are illegal as a pet here in Maine and found out that in 2017 the state of Maine removed restrictions from owning a hedgehog as a pet. Prior to 2017 you could own a hedgehog but there were two permits you needed to have.
Now while I was reading through various news articles about the recent change I stumbled across one in a local paper which really (pardon my language here) pissed me off. The author of said article basically made it seam like you would have to be insane to want to own one of these animals which could potentially kill you and all your neighbors just by owning one because of all the potential viruses they carry!
Taking a deep breath here, first let me say that I worked with and cared for a hedgehog at a science center I worked in for three years. This hedgehog was given to us after the owner realized that the much more specialized care then they had time for. Second thing you need to know is said hedgehog's home was the preschool room where his cage was right next to the pet rabbit and at no time did any of the children in the preschool or any of the other school children, who met the hedgehog, get sick or die from touching it.
Hedgehogs have the potential to carry a variety of diseases such as ringworm and salmonella to name just two. The most common hedgehog related illness is Salmonella Typhimurium. This form of Salmonella can be found in the poop of reptiles, rats, mice, hamsters, ducks, chickens, horses, goats, sheep, parrots, cats and dogs just to name a few.
Looking at the CDC website there have been at least two major outbreaks of Salmonella Typhimurium caused by pet hedgehogs, 2012 and 2019, sickening a total of 80 people and tragically leading to one death. No other diseases hedgehogs have been know to carry have caused outbreaks in the United States. Another popular animal which also carries the same strain of Salmonella which has been on the raise as the trend of "backyard farming" has taken off is chickens. Scanning the CDC website there have been three major outbreaks (2013, 2017, 2019) of sickness from a variety of Salmonella strains which resulted from contact with backyard chickens. In total three people died and 2,610 were sickened. IT IS ALL ABOUT PROPER HANDLING!!!!!!!
When I was teaching I ALWAYS had two rules the children had to follow if they wanted to touch the hedgehog; 1) No hitting or hurting the hedgehog, 2) After touching the hedgehog you walk straight to the teacher without touching your face or anyone else to wash your hands. Sounds simple want to avoid getting sick do not; lick, snuggle next to your face, let it walk around where you are doing food preparations, do not let it sleep with you, simple things will keep you safe and germ free.
As to the second point in the newspaper article as to why hedgehogs are a dangerous pet they pose a threat to other wildlife if released. That is a possibility in certain areas of the country where the temperature never gets much below 70 F. Hedgehogs in the United States are domesticated from African species and cannot really tolerate temperatures below 68 F anyway. Here in Maine at least survival in the wild would be rather slim. If they were such a huge threat to local wildlife the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife would not have decided to add them to their unrestricted list.
Sliding my soapbox back into the closet........until next time.
Read more:
https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/typhimurium-01-19/index.html
https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/blog/hedgehogs-and-salmonella/
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