Child with dead hedgehog?

Well, providing the child washed their hands when they got home, I really do not see a problem.

I doubt I would have let my children touch it, although now I think about it if one of DC had wanted to take it home to examine it in more detail, I probably would have got a spade to lfit it and take it home, and once the examination had taken place , given it a decent burial.

I’m not sure it’s a good idea to be “investigating” any corpse that’s been rotting for a few days. In any case I was always taught that even live hedgehogs carry various diseases that can be passed on to humans. I do hope they washed their hands well!

The kids at our school will poke their fingers into dead animals on the field if we haven’t seen and disposed of the animal first! If we catch them doing so, they have a thorough hand wash! Although I suspect there are some we don’t catch.

My daughter aged 7/8 used to collect the bodies of dead wild life, put them on the shed roof to decompose and then investigate their skeleton. I think she washed her hands but I am pleased to report that she's still here aged 34 and works as a doctor.

foxie48

My daughter aged 7/8 used to collect the bodies of dead wild life, put them on the shed roof to decompose and then investigate their skeleton. I think she washed her hands but I am pleased to report that she's still here aged 34 and works as a doctor.

foxie48 😁
Is she a pathologist?

My grandchildren are the same foxie. They collect skeletal remains and sometimes intact corpses. They had a dead stoat in the freezer for quite a long time, granddaughter thought she might o e day be able to taxidermy it. Eventually it had a decent burial in the garden.

Callistemon213

foxie48

My daughter aged 7/8 used to collect the bodies of dead wild life, put them on the shed roof to decompose and then investigate their skeleton. I think she washed her hands but I am pleased to report that she's still here aged 34 and works as a doctor.

foxie48 😁
Is she a pathologist?

Nope an anaesthetist so she still likes her patients comatose but now her job is to keep them alive!

😁 Well done her!

My daughter's friend used to disect anything the cat brought in.
She made mouseskin coats for her dolls and had a bones collection.

Her parents had a very rural smallholding so she was quite matter of fact about it - curing skins etc.

My eldest son was fixated by bones as a child. We went to a pig roast (he was seven) and he managed to acquire part of the skull, complete with lower jaw and teeth. His dad boiled it and bleached it overnight and sat it on his bedside table for him to wake up to. I'll never forget the wondrous look on his face the next morning. 😂😂

He became a TV producer.

I am literally astonished at these stories! I was never interested in dead animals, nor my children or grandchildren. We never touched them or picked them up. My only contact with dead animals were family pets (fish, frogs, budgies, canaries, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits) where there was no choice!

M0nica

Well, providing the child washed their hands when they got home, I really do not see a problem.

I doubt I would have let my children touch it, although now I think about it if one of DC had wanted to take it home to examine it in more detail, I probably would have got a spade to lfit it and take it home, and once the examination had taken place , given it a decent burial.

Same here, tho would have insisted it take place outdoors.

I would also ensure children washed their hands well but I've nothing against touching the creatures. My dad and I spent time exploring the occasional dead animal and ensured I washed my hands well afterwards. I think it's a interesting way of teaching

DGS aged 2-3 was fixated on slugs. As well as family members, the AA man and delivery man, when the front door was opened, were greeted by a small boy with an outstretched hands on which there was a large slug, saying proudly.' I minding a slug.'

😂😂 Monica we housed a pet slug for my DGS for a while!

My six-year-old grandson loves finding bones and skeletons when he is out for a walk with his papa and the dog. At one time, we had a 'skull' tree in our garden where he had put some of his finds. He was very excited when we took him away for a couple of days in our motorhome last week and they discovered a whale carcass on the beach.

Chestnut

I am literally astonished at these stories! I was never interested in dead animals, nor my children or grandchildren. We never touched them or picked them up. My only contact with dead animals were family pets (fish, frogs, budgies, canaries, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits) where there was no choice!

I must say, I feel the same, Chestnut. One of my lot has attended plenty of autopsies in her career but never showed any interest in corpses as a child.

Though her sister liked slugs. And there’s something worse than being handed a slug by a toddler - being handed half a slug with teeth marks in it.

MissInterpreted

My six-year-old grandson loves finding bones and skeletons when he is out for a walk with his papa and the dog. At one time, we had a 'skull' tree in our garden where he had put some of his finds. He was very excited when we took him away for a couple of days in our motorhome last week and they discovered a whale carcass on the beach.

😄
Little boys are fascinated by dead things.

Maggiemaybe 😲😖😄

Oreo

MissInterpreted

My six-year-old grandson loves finding bones and skeletons when he is out for a walk with his papa and the dog. At one time, we had a 'skull' tree in our garden where he had put some of his finds. He was very excited when we took him away for a couple of days in our motorhome last week and they discovered a whale carcass on the beach.

😄
Little boys are fascinated by dead things.

Delightful little creatures, aren't they?

How lovely to have parents who aren’t germaphobes 👏👏👏👏
I’ve introduced my grandchildren to all sorts of ghoulish things.

I love hedgehogs but my main worry about them is they tend to be covered in ticks and I’m paranoid about Lyme disease.

What a lot of brilliant responses! Seems to be that the overwhelming outcome is make sure you wash your hands thoroughly after touching anything dodgy. Thank you.

Little boys are fascinated by dead things.

Two little boys I childminded were fascinated by a dead rabbit we came across one day. It's eyes had gone and it was crawling with maggots.
I didn't let them touch it but we spent some time inspecting it and discussing it.
I took some photos for their EYFS development folders.
The Ofsted inspector who saw this was impressed, and recorded that "we discussed the circle of life" 🙂