Identify this object

It is about the size of a football. Is it:

a)the world's largest burr

b) a dried out Chia pet

c) ein Igel

The correct answer is c) ein Igel. Ein Igel is, of course, a hedgehog. I was running around getting ready to go out with Rebecca when I noticed a large-ish brown-ish object that appeared to be moving slowly across our backyard. I opened the door to check it out and Guinness ran out, gave it a sniff, and ran back to me. Approaching it cautiously, my first thought was that it was a hedgehog, but I could see no sweet little face in any part of this prickly ball and, in all honesty, its spines, with all sorts of things caught in them, did not look like animal parts. It looked like a big burr and I wasn't remotely tempted to nudge it to see if it would move.

Then I noticed the entire thing seemed to be alternately expanding and contracting a bit. Must be a hedgehog or at least some sort of living thing if it's breathing. But it was bigger than I thought a hedgehog was. In any case, a photo of this momentous event was in order. It stayed where it was for 10 minutes and then disappeared when I wasn't looking.

Ever since Rebecca was put into the Igel Gruppe at Kindergarten, I have been fascinated by this creature. They are no living species native to North America, something that surprises Germans when I mention it. Then again, there are no living species of skunk native to Europe. That usually surprises Americans.

Many German hedgehogs have been found dead in recent years after meeting a strange end -- they got their heads stuck inside McDonald's McFlurry containers and starved as a result. After being lobbied by environmental groups, McDonald's went back to the drawing board and this year introduced a new, hedgehog-friendly design for its dessert lids.