10 interesting facts about hedgehogs

For many people, hedgehogs are associated with cute prickly animals that drag apples and mushrooms on their backs into the hole. In fact, the hedgehog is a predator that eats everything it can find. And it's not always mushrooms and berries ...

9 PHOTOS

1. The hedgehog's needles are updated about once every three years, and the total number of needles on its back is about 10 thousand. Luckily for hedgehogs, quills renew themselves gradually, so the fact that regeneration takes about a year doesn't bother hedgehogs at all.

2. Hedgehogs suffer more than other animals from tick bites. Since the belly of animals is not covered with needles and they run belly down on the grass, ticks are just waiting for the right moment to grab onto their skin. Also, due to the fact that the needles are on their backs, hedgehogs cannot cope with ticks on their own. However, they came up with a more inventive way to fight! Tobacco, as you know, repels ticks, so hedgehogs find cigarette butts and prick them on their backs, thereby carrying out preventing annoying pests.

3. Hedgehogs hibernate about 128 days a year. While the animal is sleeping, its body temperature drops to 2-3 degrees Celsius, while at normal times the body temperature is 34 degrees. Also, during hibernation, the hedgehog's breathing slows down and it takes only 8 breaths per minute, while during the active time it is 40-50. After waking up, the hedgehog experiences an acute feeling of hunger and at first, is engaged only in getting food for itself.

4. Did you know that hedgehogs have a tail? Yes, yes, little ponytail! True, it is not at all visible due to the long needles on the back, because its length is only 3 cm maximum.

5. Eared hedgehogs are inherently more dexterous and nimble, so in case of danger, they are very reluctant to curl up into a ball. Since the speed of movement of these hedgehogs is several times greater than usual, it will be very difficult for a potential hunter to catch up with them. Most often, in order to protect itself, the eared hedgehog will try to jump up and get the sensitive spots of the attacker with its needles.

6. Hedgehogs, like porcupines, are immune to viper venom. True, they do not have any interest in these reptiles and do not hunt them. However, if they suddenly meet a viper on the way, they will gladly devour it for lunch and will not pass by, like any predatory beast. Also, hedgehogs are not affected by many other dangerous poisons, such as arsenic, sublimate, and potassium cyanide.

7. Perhaps the most famous myth about hedgehogs is that they carry blocks, mushrooms, and leaves on their quills in order to gather supplies for the winter in their burrows. As you understand, this is an outright lie and omnivorous hedgehogs feed on insects, worms, amphibians, beetles, and horsetails. True, they can also eat berries and apples, but they are definitely not capable of carrying them on their backs, since they physically cannot curl up like that.

8. Mcdonald's, a chain of fast food restaurants, is particularly to blame for the death of many hedgehogs. The animal would find McFlurry ice cream cones and get stuck there, dying of hunger, as the width of the neck was wide enough for the hedgehog's head to fit in but narrow for it to crawl out of there. In 2006, animal rights activists were able to get Mcdonald's to shrink the mouth of their cups, thereby saving the lives of many hedgehogs from certain death.

9. In ancient Rome, hedgehog skins were used as combs for combing the wool of livestock. This product was so popular that the Courts of that time even considered a bunch of cases on crafting hedgehog skins.

10. Although hedgehogs do not completely lack vision, they see really poorly. But poor eyesight is fully compensated by a sharp sense of smell and hearing.