Hedgehog Heyghoge Heyg Hegge Hoge Hogge Urchin Hedgepig Furze-Pig Prickle

A hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae, which is in
the order Erinaceomorpha. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera, found through
parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and New Zealand (by introduction). There are no hedgehogs native to
Australia, and no living species native to the Americas. Hedgehogs share distant ancestry
with shrews (family Soricidae), with gymnures possibly being the intermediate link, and have
changed little over the last 15 million years.[2] Like many of the first mammals, they have adapted
to a nocturnal way of life.[3] Hedgehogs' spiny protection resembles that of the unrelated
rodent porcupines and monotreme echidnas.
The name hedgehog came into use around the year 1450, derived from the Middle
English heyghoge, from heyg, hegge("hedge"), because it frequents hedgerows,
and hoge, hogge ("hog"), from its piglike snout.[4] Other names
include urchin, hedgepig and furze-pig. The collective noun for a group of hedgehogs
is array or prickle.
Contents
[hide]
1 Physical description
2 Diet
3 Reproduction and lifespan
4 Predators
5 Domesticated hedgehogs
6 Invasive species
7 Diseases
8 Human influence
9 Culinary and medicinal use
10 Genera and species
11 See also
12 References
13 External links
Physical description
Hedgehogs are easily recognized by their spines, which are hollow hairs made sti with keratin.
[5] Their spines are not poisonous or barbed and, unlike the quills of a porcupine, cannot easily be
removed from the hedgehog. However, spines normally come out when a hedgehog sheds baby
spines and replaces them with adult spines. This is called "quilling". When under extreme stress or
during sickness, a hedgehog can also lose spines.
Hedgehog skeleton
Close-up of the last 5 mm of a hedgehog spine (SEM microscopy)
A skin-skeletal preparation
Close-up of the last 0.4 mm of a hedgehog spine in SEM

A defense that all species of hedgehogs possess is the ability to roll into a tight ball, causing all of
the spines to point outwards.[5] However, its eectiveness depends on the number of spines, and
since some of the desert hedgehogs evolved to carry less weight, they are much more likely to try
to run away and sometimes even attack the intruder, trying to ram into the intruder with its spines;
rolling up into a spiny ball is used by those species as a last resort. There are a dierent number of
predators for dierent species: while forest hedgehogs have relatively few predators, primarily
birds (especially owls) and ferrets, smaller species like the long-eared hedgehog are preyed on by
foxes, wolves and mongooses.
Hedgehogs are primarily nocturnal, although, depending on the species, they may be more or less
active during the day. The hedgehog sleeps for a large portion of the daytime either under cover of
bush, grass, rock or in a hole in the ground. Again, dierent species can have slightly dierent
habits, but in general hedgehogs dig dens for shelter. All wild hedgehogs can hibernate, although
not all do; hibernation depends on temperature, species, and abundance of food.
The hedgehog's back is made up of two large muscles, which control the positioning of its quills.
There are about 5,000 to 6,500 quills on the average hedgehog, and these are strong on the outer
surface, but filled with air pockets on the inside. The hedgehog uses its quills to protect itself from
predators, using muscles which draw their quilled skin to cover their full body, and pulling in the
parts of their bodies not covered, such as their head, feet, and belly. This form of defense is the
hedgehog's most successful, but is usually their last resort.

Hedgehogs are fairly vocal and communicate through a combination of grunts, snues and/or
squeals, depending on species.
Self-anointing
Hedgehogs occasionally perform a ritual called anointing. When the animal encounters a new
scent, it will lick and bite the source, then form a scented froth in its mouth and paste it on
its spines with its tongue. The specific purpose of this ritual is unknown, but some experts believe
anointing camouflages the hedgehog with the new scent of the area and provides a possible
poison or source of infection to predators poked by their spines. Anointing is sometimes also
called anting because of a similar behavior in birds.
Similar to opossums, mice and moles, hedgehogs have some natural immunity against snake
venom due to the protein erinacin in the animal's muscular system (although it is only available in
small amounts, and so a viper bite, for example, may kill the hedgehog anyway).[6]

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A hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae, which is in

Close-up of the last 5 mm of a hedgehog spine (SEM microscopy)

Close-up of the last 0.4 mm of a hedgehog spine in SEM

hedgehog's most successful, but is usually their last resort.

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