The babies remain with their mothers for only four to seven weeks before they go off into the world alone. It takes about a day for the skin to shrink and the white quills to appear. During birth, the hoglets quills are covered by skin that is filled with fluid to prevent them from hurting the mother. Hoglets have quills at birth but unlike the adult’s quills, these are soft and much more flexible. Young hedgehogs are known as hoglets or piglets. If the female is not convinced that the male is good enough for her, she begins to run in circles, raises her spines, and hisses at him. To attract the female, the male takes part in something called the hedgehog carousel, where it runs in circles around the female. Hedgehogs breed once a year and produce litters that have between one and eleven young. Hedgehogs are solitary animals and only meet during the breeding season. Some hedgehogs are immune to the toxins produced by other animals which enables them to eat venomous snakes, scorpions, and frogs! A young hedgehog watches what its mother eats These small mammals root through hedges and the undergrowth in search of food and as it does this it emits small grunts like a pig, hence the name hedgehog. They get their name from the foraging technique they use to hunt out their meals. Hedgehogs feed on a variety of small animals such as insects, worms, centipedes, snails, mice, frogs, and snakes.

This nocturnal mammal feasts on bugs and insects and is often found in gardens. The hedgehog’s spines are made from keratin and unlike the porcupine, they are not easily detachable from their body. The hedgehog can protect itself by curling into a ball so that only its porcupine-like quills are exposed. The hedgehog is a prickly little animal that has spines covering its back. The hedgehog has also been introduced to New Zealand, where it is considered to be a pest. The hedgehog is a small mammal covered in spines, estimated to have evolved approximately 15 million years ago! It is an insectivore that is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Head and body: 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 cm) tail: 1 to 2 inches (2.5 – 5 cm)Įarthworms, woodlice, insects, and toads.

The eloquence of the hedgehog