[Gpdd] SILLY PIGGIE: Meet Hershey

[GARY HESS]

Hershey's my little sweetie. She gives moist little Hershey kisses on my arms and hands. Never had a piggie do that before. She also loves toys, especially ones that make noise like cat and ferret toys with bells. She has a couple bells over her feeder (one of those triangular corner litterbox things stuffed with timothy), and she enjoys grabbing the chain of one and flinging it into the other. She is becoming an excellent cuddler, too.
I'd lost my previous piggie, Vrie, a couple days before Mother's Day. My husband could see how sad I was, so he surprised me on Mother's Day with the tiniest, most shy guinea pig I've ever seen. I get the feeling she didn't have much of a piglethood, as she was completely unsocialized. It's taken a long time to win her trust, which has made it--and her--all the more precious. 
She's not a terribly vocal piggie, which is sad, because I love all their sounds (except for the sad ones, which are, as you know, heartbreaking). I do have a piglese question though. Is the purring sound they make when you're petting near their hindquarters a happy purr, or is it a "you're getting too personal" sound? I really can't tell, but I'd like to believe it's a contented one. I don't want to subject her to that if it's annoying, so I'll wait until I get word from some of you. Okay. Call me Slave! Any observations as to how piggies use that sound with each other and with their servants would help me solve the mystery.
I am SO sorry to hear of so many of our little friends sick and dying. It's a good thing we have each other, because people at large would never understand the way we love our piggies, and how warmly they reciprocate. There's no such thing as JUST a guinea pig!!! Prayers go out to Princess Snowflake (whose Critters Blog was enchanting) and to all those poor little ones who are ailing and those who love them so much. My little Vrie left me at six years of age, and did so very gracefully on her own. I would have been beside myself if I'd had to have a vet help her along, so my heart really goes out to all of you who've had to make that loving decision.
I'm writing a novel right now that features Vrie and Hersh. I can't tell if it's a kid book or a grownup one, or something in between. It'd be nice to raise awareness not only of how delightful these little critters are, but of what they need from us.
With Hershey's kisses to one and all--no, wait. She'd run out of saliva!
Joanie