HEDGEHOGS
Mammal - Vertebrate - Carnivore
Mammal - Vertebrate - Carnivore
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BABY HEDGEHOGS
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Male: Boar
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Female: Sow
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Young: Hoglet, Piglet, Pup
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HEDGEHOGS
There are 17 difference species of hedgehogs, none of which are native to America.
DO NOT GIVE HEDGEHOGS MILK TO DRINK - IT IS POISON TO THEM.
- Hedgehogs are Britain's only spiny mammal and has about 6,000 spines. Underneath they have coarse brown fur.
- Got their name from their preferred habitat - garden hedges - and the pig-like grunts that they make.
- Are largely immune to snake venom.
- Unlike Porcupine quills, hedgehog spikes are not barbed and they are not poisonous.
- Eat slugs and earthworms and sometimes eggs.
- Are nocturnal.
- Hibernate during the winter.
- Heart beats 300 times per minute, on average.
- Roll up into a tight ball to protect themselves from predators.
- Have poor eyesight, but a good sense of smell and hearing.
- When exposed to pungent smells or tastes, they 'self-anoint' by rubbing their quills eith their frothy saliva.
- Threats are:
- Cars
- Lawnmowers
- Poison - slug pellets, etc
- The spines of a newborn hedgehog begin to appear within 24 hours.
- The desert hedgehog eats scorpions by carefully nipping off the scorpion's deadly sting before eating it.
- Can live for about 5 years
Visit: Hedgehogs . COLLECTIVE NOUNS and SIMILE
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PYGMY HEDGEHOG
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