Groundhogs and rabbits were trending this week with Groundhog Day and the Chinese New Year. Punxsutawney Phil says spring will come early and according to Chinese tradition “The Rabbit” will represent 2011.

With all the rabbit and groundhog talk I started thinking about hedgehogs. There’s a lot of hedgehog cuteness in cyberspace but I wanted to find 5 videos that really stood out from the hedgehog bunch. Take a look at these 5 videos that give hedgehogs some love.

1. The first selection is a popular YouTube video from a few years ago. The star is Shming, a domesticated hedgehog doing a bathtub aquatic routine. He’s so popular he has his own T-shirt line. Click here.

Shming’s water performance is lots of fun but the narrative between the two women cheering Shming along is what makes this video a YouTube classic.
Embedding is disabled on this one so click here to see the video.

2. Hedgehog in the Fog is a 1975 Soviet/Russian animated film directed by Yuriy Norshteyn, produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow. You can purchase the book version via Amazon. Watch this artistic, award winning stop motion animation:

Click here for the official Norshteyn Studios site.

3. Hedgehogs love to get busy on the dance floor. Well at least according to this song aptly called Hedgehogs. HEDGEHOG!!! Watch out it’s catchy.

4. What better way to give hedgehogs kudos then to name a band after one? Check out this Chinese Indie Rock band called Hedgehog with their song Wink:

5. In this last video we see hedgehog love in the form of a mini English Tudor cottage. I like the commentator’s accent.

In many places hedgehogs are illegal to keep as pets. For more info about domesticated hedgehogs & their wellbeing, check out the following links:
http://hedgies.com
http://www.hedgehogwelfare.org

Looks like the little dude says winter will continue. Which is a good thing, because I need to lose a few pounds of vanity weight before I squeeze into my bathing suit.

Who is a fan of Groundhog Day  the movie? Show of hands people or comments would be nice!

I’ve always liked Bill Murray. Not only for his important role in Ghostbusters but because he was a friend of Hunter S. Thompson. It seems that everyone who knew Mr. Thompson is a bit quirky, intelligent and creative just like him. Before Johnny Depp’s role in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Bill Murray starred in Where the Buffalo Roam, a 1980 comedy film based on short stories by Hunter S. Thompson.

I have a connection with the movie Groundhog Day because it was filmed in the little town where I was born, Woodstock, IL. When I was a kid, I thought I was born at Woodstock, meaning Woodstock the festival of peace, love, music, naked mud dancing, and people high on life so to speak.

Looks like Woodstock, IL does a yearly celebration for Groundhog Day. Check out this fun video of Woodstock Willie from 2008, thanks to YouTuber JohnnyBrewster.