The hedgehog | Facts & Information
# The Hedgehog | Facts & Information
The Hedgehog | Discover Fascinating Facts and Information About The Hedgehog
Even if there are no native hedgehogs in America, lovers of these insectivores can buy them from specialty stores, but only in certain states! In other U.S. states, as well as several Canadian provinces, it is illegal to own a hedgehog as a pet. And if you really want to grow it in a natural space, you need a license! Such restrictions do not exist, however, in Europe, the Hedgehog from our continent is considered to belong to the common breed.
Area: all continents
Habitat: in wetlands and forests
Food: insects, Bream, spiders, slugs slugs
Size: 15 – 30 cm (6-12 inches)
Weight: 1-2 kg
Speed: 19km / h (12mph)
Colors: brown, gray, cream
Breeding: 3 – 4 chicks
Live: solitary
Average age: 3-6 years
Features: long snout, can roll like a ball
Other names: Hedgehog, Hedgehog
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The Hedgehog
The Hedgehog is a fascinating animal with a distinct personality and a unique appearance. This small, scaly mammal can be found in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and is renowned for its rough coat and sharp spines that protect it from predators. The Hedgehog presents a series of interesting characteristics and is considered an efficient animal in the fight against pests in gardens and orchards.There are several species of hedgehogs, with the most common being the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus). It lives in a variety of environments, from forests and gardens to open fields, preferring habitats that provide shelter and sufficient food.
One of the most characteristic aspects of the hedgehog is its spiky covering. These spines are actually modified hairs that grow from the root of the hedgehog's hair strands. They provide excellent protection against predators and can reach a length of up to 5 centimeters. When the hedgehog feels threatened, it rolls into a small ball, with its spines pointing outward, discouraging any predators from approaching. With this defensive tactic, the hedgehog can avoid many aggressions and can safely protect its soft body area.
Although the hedgehog has a protective appearance, it is a carnivorous animal, mainly feeding on small insects, worms, and other small organisms found in the soil. It has a considerable appetite for snails, slugs, and insect larvae, making it an important pest controller in gardens and orchards. This makes the hedgehog highly appreciated by gardeners, as it keeps the pest population under control without the need for chemicals or artificial pest control methods.
The hedgehog is a solitary and nocturnal animal. Although it can be seen during the day, this is rare and usually indicates a problem. This solitary nature can make it difficult to observe hedgehogs in the wild. However, in some areas, encountering a hedgehog in the garden is quite common, as it can find shelter and food in a safe and favorable environment.
Despite their popularity, hedgehogs face numerous threats. One of the main factors is the loss of habitat. With accelerated urbanization and the development of rural areas, forest areas and natural areas are shrinking, providing less space for hedgehogs. Additionally, the excessive use of pesticides and other chemicals can have a negative impact on the hedgehog population. They can consume food contaminated with pesticides, affecting their immune system and facing difficulties in reproduction.
To protect hedgehog populations and promote the conservation of these small mammals, protective measures such as creating protected areas and maintaining natural habitats are necessary. Gardeners and farmers can also contribute to hedgehog conservation by avoiding the use of pesticides and cultivating natural areas in gardens and orchards.
The hedgehog is an amazing, adaptable, and useful animal. With its sharp spines, symbolizing self-defense, and its diet based on pests, the hedgehog is one of the wild inhabitants of nature that deserves to be protected and appreciated.
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A small ball, alive, covered with a lot of spines. Sharp muzzle, sparkling eyes. This is the Hedgehog (Erinaceinae), one of the most beloved animals – character in the fairy tales of many peoples, cartoon hero. In the wild, hedgehogs live in large areas of Europe, Asia, Africa and New Zealand, but not on the two American continents.
Scientifically called Erinaceus europaeus, the common Hedgehog is native to Europe but has also been introduced to New Zealand. Also, relatives of the common Hedgehog live in other areas ,in various habitats (from sand dunes to even Gardens on the outskirts of cities), hibernating between four and six months a year. The Hedgehog is an insectivorous animal that, in addition to insects, also eats Bream, spiders and slug snails.
Feeding Hedgehogs
The Hedgehog is an insectivorous animal that, in addition to insects, also eats Bream, spiders and slug snails. And if most insectivores flee at the first sign of danger, the Hedgehog reacts in a very special way. With its back covered with nearly 6,000 sharp spines, the Hedgehog crouches like a ball when threatened and flaps its spines, thus protecting itself against most predators.
Highly regarded as an enemy of insects, the Hedgehog was introduced precisely because of this quality in New Zealand and Scotland. Before long, however, he turned himself into a small pest. How? With so few natural enemies, hedgehogs multiplied very quickly and ended up consuming far more insects than initially estimated, when they were brought precisely for this purpose.
As a result, the food became insufficient, the hedgehogs began to diversify their menu, eating other "delicacies", among which the eggs of waders. But this accident of adaptation was just an unfortunate result of insufficient study of all the implications of naturalization.
The appreciation and sympathy that hedgehogs have always enjoyed are very old: the Romans even celebrated, on February 2, The Day Of The Hedgehog. It was the date when hedgehogs were thought to leave their hibernating hiding place and show themselves to humans again.
And this Hedgehog Day continued to be celebrated by many European peoples, and was even "exported" to the other shore of the Atlantic Ocean. But, having no such insectivorous mammals, the Americans adapted the day of the Hedgehog, choosing the marmot as a representative animal and thus celebrating, year after year, the day of the Marmot.
Appearance Hedgehog
If most insectivores flee at the first sign of danger, the Hedgehog reacts in a very special way. With its back covered with nearly 6,000 sharp spines, the Hedgehog crouches like a ball when threatened and flaps its spines, thus protecting itself against most predators.
The most adaptable to pet life are the White pantecos, algerian, indian hedgehogs (the last two having long ears) and those of the breed called four-toed hedgehogs.
The spines that make it so easy to recognize the Hedgehog are not venomous (as in other species) and not as unpleasant as the Porcupine, for example, but they provide the little insectivore with a very effective protection against predators, the only successful attacks taking place at night or by surprise.
Therefore, among the few natural enemies of the Hedgehog are owls and ferrets. For hedgehogs that live in forests or crops crossed by roads, other enemies (unwillingly) are careless drivers, many spiky specimens ending up under the wheels of speeding cars.
Hedgehog Behavior
Hedgehogs avoid going out for a walk during the day, preferring to hide in secluded places and postponing the meal after dark. At night, hedgehogs start looking for their favorite food: various species of insects, Bream, certain snails and a lot of worms.
Because this menu is mostly made up of crop pests, farmers and gardeners appreciate the hedgehogs and try to get them to visit their property, baiting them with food. Only, unfortunately, not all people know that hedgehogs have a lactose intolerance, the consumption of milk (or its derivatives) doing much harm to spiky insect hunters. In contrast, dog or cat food is much more to the liking of hedgehogs, even if – for their needs – it is too high in fat and too low in protein.
So, if you want to attract a hedgehog to your garden, try with dairy-free products in small quantities so that he can quench his hunger with the insects that bother you (a hedgehog eats, every night, over 200 grams of pests). Be careful, though! Even though hedgehogs are immune to many of the poisons and most insecticides, their lives can be put at risk when they feed in treated crops, swallowing insecticide-filled creatures can cause death.
Breeding Hedgehogs
The life of the Hedgehog, by the way, is quite short. In freedom, specimens of small species live between two and four years, being able to reach 6-7 years only in captivity. Hedgehogs of larger breeds live between four and seven years in the wild, their life expectancy increasing quite significantly if they are cared for in captivity.
A record of longevity was recorded on a French farm, where a hedgehog lived for 17 years! And if there were Hospitals for hedgehogs, the number of their patients would be very high, due to diseases they can suffer from: cancer (especially skin tumors), diseases of the heart and liver and the so-called "wobbly Hedgehog syndrome" (a disease that affects the control of muscles and leads to an unsteady, intertwined gait).
When they come into the world, the little hedgehogs are usually three or four siblings, born after a gestation period that, from one breed to another, can be between 30 and 58 days. Puppies are born with shorter and less sharp spikes, which they are to change with the mature ones after the first year of life. A mature specimen weighs around one kilogram and has a length of 20-30 centimeters.
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