First-grade report fuels girl’s growing hedgehog fascination

PORT ORCHARD – Most kids beg their parents for puppies and kittens. Sometimes a pony. Perhaps a hamster, a bird or a fish.

Jessica Davis wanted a hedgehog.

Her parents, Janet and Cory Davis Sr., say it’s the “fault” of their daughter’s first-grade teacher, Kathy Bates, at Sunnyslope Elementary School in Port Orchard. Bates assigned their daughter’s first-grade class a project where each student was instructed to research – first-grade style – and report on an animal of their choice.

Jessica chose the hedgehog.

“It was between that and an elephant,” says her dad. “I’m so glad she didn’t go with an elephant.”

“They were cute, friendly, interesting, just fun to learn about,” says Jessica of the small, beady-eyed creature with raccoon-like features and touchable (just be careful) spines all over its back.

After Jessica did that first-grade report, she spent a year begging for one of her own.

“We told her she’d have to do extensive research on it,” said her dad. She’d have to learn how to raise it, feed it, etc.

So Jessica hit the books. And her parents observed their daughter’s dedication.

And for Christmas the year she was in second grade, Jessica’s present wasn’t under the tree. Her brother, Cory Jr., had Star Wars toys to unwrap. Younger sister Jaden got a tent. Jessica was eventually led downstairs where her present waited, unwrapped.

“Is it real?” she asked when she saw what she thought was a stuffed animal.

Yup. It was Holly the hedgehog.

“You have to get used to holding it,” she admits. “Your hands usually get bumps and stuff.” But that doesn’t bother her. She worked hard to get her hedgehog, and, as her father says, it’s become a bit of an obsession.

Now a sixth-grader, the 12-year-old still loves hedgehogs. She’s on her second, Molly, an African pygmy hedgehog. The duo recently won several prizes at the fourth annual Hedgehog Gathering on Oct. 8 in Anacortes – two first-place awards and a grand champion ribbon.

Not a bad follow-up to the duo’s two first-places and reserve best of show at the inaugural Pacific Northwest Hedgehog Show in Tacoma this past summer.

Jessica’s parents are proud hedgehog grandparents.

“Just the fact that my daughter’s found something that she’s very interested in – it’s a neat experience to watch her grow in her knowledge of them and her interest of them,” said Cory Sr. Though, he admits, “She’s over-fascinated; she’s obsessed with them.”

But it’s still neat.

Jessica’s father asked the Anacortes judges what made Molly a winner, and apparently the key is in the amount of time Jessica spends caring for the hedgehog.

While body shape, quill quality and other elements play a part in the prizes, “personality is a big one,” said Jessica’s dad.

And since Jessica spends a lot of time caring for Molly, the hedgehog is used to human interaction, so that when the judges pick her up, she doesn’t roll up into a spine-covered ball and try to hide. Molly’s a bit of a showgirl.

That “winning personality” even beat out several hedgehog breeders.

“We’re very proud of her,” said Cory Sr. of Jessica’s accomplishments. “She’s come a long way from learning from books and Web sites.”

Now Jessica is considering becoming a hedgehog breeder, not an easy task.

“It’s kind of a far-out notion,” admits Jessica’s father. But one she’s definitely interested in pursuing.

In the meantime, she’s just enjoying her hedgehog. And probably enjoys freaking out her friends.

“Different friends have different looks toward it,” Jessica said of her classmates’ reactions. “Some like it, others are afraid to touch it, others think it’s going to bite.”

But they’re probably used to odd animals at what could be described as the “Davis Family Farm.” With a chinchilla, two rabbits, a Persian cat and now two hedgehogs (Jessica’s 10-year-old sister, Jaden, has one now as well) – it’s a diversified mix, admits Cory Sr. They used to have iguanas, too.

But, says Jessica’s dad, “Hedgehogs rule.”