e-boy left such a lovely comment on Shanklinspony, I just had to blog it:

[Tue 14:23] e-boy
“i once found a hedgehog in our garden when i was about five, and i didn’t want to tell my mum because i thought she wouldn’t let me keep it. so, for about a week, i snuck out after tea and gave it milk and quavers and stuff. he was always there, waiting for me in the same place at the same time, curled up into a ball. he didn’t seem to like the quavers very much; he never ate them.
after about a week, my mum got curious and followed me up into the garden to see what i was doing. she had to gently point out that my ‘hedgehog’ was actually a rat, and, more to the point, it was dead. i didn’t visit ‘Harry’ any more after that.”