Hedgehog is a sweet animal, arising positive emotions both in children and adults. Like all creatures, hedhogs have their own world of living and peculiar features.

Hedgehog is the only animal in the world that has huge amount of spines instead of hair. Each hedgehog has more than 5000 of spines! Every spine has a lifetime of around one year, then it falls out and is replaced by a new one. Due to spines a hedgehog protects itself from enemies: it rolls into a ball so that nothing can penetrate it. Interesting, that babies of this animal are not able to roll into a ball because a special muscle has not developed yet.

In general scientists registered 15 species of these mammals.

LIFESTYLE

Hedgehogs are alone living creatures, they habitate in holes, but they rarely make them themselves. Instead they search for ready places — these maybe hollows on the ground in the trees, roots or room between branches. Everywhere where a hedgehod can fit, it may create a home for itself.

The animals pair only to mate and when babies are born they are taken care exclusively by a female.

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A curious fact is that these small animals are nights livers. Perhaps, because the eyesight is quite weak, they are led by the senses of smell and hearing, so that might be the reason why they are active during dark time.

They have very tiny paws, but, you know, they can develop speed up to 2 meters per second!

FOOD

The diet of a hedgehog comprises grasshoppers, insects, cockroaches, worms frogs and other small creatures. Though it is unbelievable that they eat snakes as well. When a snake sees a hedgehod it wants to bite it. At this moment a hedgehog spreads wide the spines on its head and the snake injures itself. Becoming angry the snake tries to bite a small animal again and again until it itself starts bleeding. Then it stands still for a while and a rapid hedgehog bites the snake’s neck.

It is worth to say that hedgehogs are intolerant to lactose, so giving milk and dairy products to them will cause lethal results.

FLEAS AND MITES

Though hedgehogs are covered with spines, for fleas and mites it is a good area to live. To get rid of them, animals roll on their backs in mud, on anthills and even rub their backs with frogs poison. After such procedures there are remainings of different stuff on its back. That is why children’s pictures of a hedgehog carrying something on its spines is somehow true.

For this reason, it should be noted that is quite dangerous to keep hedgehogs as pets at home. They can bring easily diseases such as skin infections caused by Trichophyton erinacei.

HIBERNATION

Hedgehogs need to prepare themselves very thouroughly for winter.

The first condition is that they have to eat a lot before hibernation. They must collect so much fat that will provide them with enough nutrients during cold weather. On average, a hedgehog must weight for more than 500 g before it hibernates. So it means if an average hedgehog's weight is 800 grams, it must gain 500 grams more and become 1,2 kg in general.

The second thing is that it has to find a place for the whole winter. If it fails to find one until the temperature goes below +6, it may fall asleep and then freeze.

During hibernation the body temperature lowers approximately to 0 C° and heart rate goes down to 20 beats per minute. When a hedgehog wakes up after winter, its weight is 40% less than in autumn.

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But despite some risks, a great amount of american people keep hedgehogs as pets. Especially it is related to African pygmy hedgehogs — they are quite independent, do not require much care and very cute. Aren’t they?

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Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4.

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