Hedgehog Fact file

[How to help : Adopt a hedgehog]

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.

Appearance: Length between 20-30cm
3-5,000 brown/grey spines covering top side of body.
Underside of body soft grey fur.
Small beady eyes, small, but visible ears.
Black, rubbery nose – smell is the primary sense
Feet have 5 toes front & back with long claws

Diet: Insectivores – main diet of slugs, beetles, worms & caterpillars
Captive diet – cat food or puppy food & eggs, no bread & milk!
Hedgehogs hibernate from November to February/March due to lack of food source.

Photo : Colin seddon

Breeding: 2 litters per year, June-July & September-October.
Litter size =1-8, average 4 or 5 babies.
Babies are born spineless, but develop soft white spines within
An hour of birth, brown spines appear within a few days.
Hoglets are born blind, eyes open after 2 weeks.
Weaning after 3-4 weeks – following mother on foraging trips.
Dispersal of family from 6-8 weeks.

Characteristic: The only Spinney mammal in the UK
Adult hedgehogs are solitary.
Hedgehogs are nocturnal.
Protection through the ability to conceal all soft body parts through rolling up into a tight prickly ball. This art of self defence is mastered by a circular muscle that, when contracted, closes like a drawstring bag.
Famously accused of heavy loads of flea's & ticks – hedgehog fleas are 'host specific' so only live on hedgehogs. Like most wildlife, hedgehogs live with fleas without a problem.

[How to help : Adopt a hedgehog]

 

New Road, East Huntspill, Highbridge, Somerset TA9 3PZ, UK
Tel. : (44) (01278) 783250, Fax : (44) (01278) 793109
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Website by Dae Sasitorn, lastrefuge.co.uk
and Angie Barber, The Secret World Wildlife Rescue