No one knows what his original name might have been. So after being turned over to Bath police Saturday night, officers decided “Mr. Needlemouse” was a better name for the unidentified subject than “John Doe” while in their care.

The visitor, later identified as an African pygmy hedgehog, was small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand and undeniably cute, but hedgehogs are not indigenous to Maine and certainly don’t belong on the sidewalk running along High Street, a busy 5-mile stretch that bisects the city from north to south.

That’s where a local woman found the critter at around 8 p.m. Saturday, according to Animal Control Officer Jim McKnight. The woman, he said, packed the spiny creature in a pet carrier and delivered it to police.

“It was not a wild animal. She wasn’t sure what it was,” McKnight said.

The department spent a portion of the weekend trying to identify the animal and locate its owner, posting photos on the department’s Facebook page. Nearly 150 people commented on the post, but no one came forward to claim the hedgehog.

McKnight said hedgehogs have a specific diet, and neither the department nor any of the usual animal shelters he works with had the facilities to care for it, so he turned it over to animal expert Drew Desjardins on Sunday. 

Desjardins, 54, has worked with exotic animals for the past 30 years, and for the past 10 years has run Mr. Drew and His Animals Too, an exotic rescue and education center in Lewiston. He said he typically comes across lizards, turtles and other reptiles, but said someone did turn another hedgehog over to him for care last week, and another one several months ago.

“We take in lots of creepy-crawlies,” Desjardins said. “We don’t have a lot of cute-and-furries, but we do have some.”

Hedgehogs had been illegal to keep in Maine without a permit until 2017, when the state’s department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife added them to its list of unrestricted animals.

Although legal to keep, they require a lot of work.

Desjardins noted that hedgehogs are not native to Maine, and do need a diet of small, live prey such as bugs and mealworms. They also have other needs, such as to be kept very warm, requirements that often put off pet owners who buy the creatures on impulse without realizing what they are getting into. 

When asked if such cases of abandonment happen often, Desjardins said, “More than it should be.”

Desjardins said he didn’t know and may never know if this hedgehog was abandoned, but noted that they tend to be expensive animals, so when one goes missing owners usually start inquiring in their neighborhoods.

As for “Mr. Needlemouse,” Desjardins said he has already found a home for him, with an Auburn woman who keeps hedgehogs as pets and recently lost one due to old age.

“It’s going to the right place. It needs to be with someone who has experience,” Desjardins said.

Desjardins added that he had just heard from the hedgehog’s new owner Tuesday morning, who said he is adjusting nicely to his new home, and has been permanently named “Gomez.”