- Hedgehogs are small spiny-coated animals.
- They vary in color from brown to almost black.
- Hedgehogs cannot see very well, but have good ears and a great sense
of smell.
- It uses its long snout to find food and sense dangers.
- Hedgehogs are awake at night (nocturnal) and are generally found curling
up during the day under matted grass or in leaf piles, rocky places
or holes in the ground.
- Hedghogs are insectivores. Their natural diet includes insects, slugs,
snails, worms and, occasionally, small vertebrates and fruit. They sometimes
kill and eat snakes.
- Hedgehogs are born with their eyes closed and open their eyes about
14 days after birth.
- Hedgehogs normally live to be 3 to 5 years old.
- A hedgehog's main defense is to curl up into a ball, allows its spines
to protect it.
- A hedgehog is one of the few animals that hibernate.
- Hedgehogs awaken fairly regularly during the hibernation period but
seldom leave the nest unless their body thermostat has warned them that
it is too cold.
- However, in the spring, as the weather warms and their fat reserves
run low the hedgehogs start to wake from hibernation.
- At this time the hedgehog will be very thirsty and will have lost
one third of its bodyweight so it must eat if possible, just in case
the weather turns cold again and it temporarily opts for more hibernation.
- The hedgehog is considered to be Britain's best loved mammal, no-one
seems to have any cause for argument with these spiny garden dwellers.
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