Hedgehog

From Freepedia

For the anti-submarine weapon see Hedgehog (weapon); for the mathematical concepts see hedgehog (curve) and hedgehog (metric).
Hedgehogs
Image:Igel01.jpg
European Hedgehog
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Insectivora
Family:Erinaceidae
Subfamily:Erinaceinae
Genera

Atelerix
Erinaceus
Hemiechinus
Mesechinus

A hedgehog is any of a wide variety of small spiny mammals of the Order Insectivora found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand. There are no hedgehogs native to The Americas.

Hedgehogs are easily distinguished by their spines, which are hollow hairs made stiff with keratin. Their spines are not poisonous or barbed and, unlike the quills of a porcupine, cannot easily be removed from the animal. However, spines normally come out when a hedgehog sheds baby spines and replaces them with adult spines around their first year. Under extreme stress or sickness (often both), a hedgehog will lose spines.

Hedgehogs are most closely related to gymnures, also to other insectivores such as moles, shrews, tenrecs and solenodons.

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. However, its effectiveness 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 him with their needles, leaving rolling as a last resort. This results in different amount of predators for different species: while forest hedgehogs have relatively few, primarily birds (especially owls) and ferrets, smaller species like long-eared hedgehog tend to be a major link in food chain having foxes, wolves and mongooses prey on them.

All hedgehogs are primarily nocturnal, although different species can be more or less likely to come out in the daytime. The hedgehog sleeps for a large portion of the daytime either under cover of bush or grass or rock or in a hole in the ground. Again, different species can have slightly different habits, but in general hedgehogs dig out dens for shelter. All hedgehogs can hibernate, although not all do; hibernation depends on temperature, abundance of food and species. Hedgehogs are fairly vocal, and communicate not only in a series of grunts and snuffles, but sometimes in pretty loud squeals (depending on species).

Although belonging to insectivora family, hedgehogs are actually almost omnivorous. Hedgehogs feed on insects, snails, frogs and toads, snakes, bird eggs, carrion, mushrooms, grass roots, berries and melons and watermelons. In fact, berries constitute a major part of Afghan Hedgehog's diet in early Spring right after hibernation. The hedgehog is occasionally spotted after a rainstorm foraging for earthworms. Although forest hedgehogs, most well-known to Europeans, are indeed mainly insectivores, this is not necessarily true for other species.

In areas that have hedgehogs in the wild, they are often welcome as a natural form of garden pest control. Many people leave food out to attract hedgehogs. However, hedgehogs are lactose intolerant and will eagerly eat cheese products and drink milk, making themselves sick. Dog and cat food is a better food than dairy, but it is often too high in fat and too low in protein. It is best to leave out only a small treat, leaving them plenty of appetite for the pests in your garden.

Hedgehogs occasionally perform a ritual called 'anointing'. When the animal comes across a new scent, it will lick and bite the source and then form a scented froth in its mouth and paste it on its spines with its tongue. This camouflages the hedgehog with the new scent of the area and provides a possible poison or source of infection to any predator that gets poked by their spines.

Depending on the species, the gestation period is 40-58 days. The average litter is 3-4 newborns for larger species and 5-6 for smaller ones. Larger species of hedgehogs live 4-7 years in the wild (some have been recorded up to 16 years). Smaller species live 2-4 years (4-7 in captivity). Their penis is relatively the largest of the mammals.

Contents

European Hedgehog

Image:Hedgehog.jpg
Main article: European Hedgehog

The European Hedgehog, Erinaceus europeaus, is a mammal of the order Insectivora, about 20cm in length.

Domesticated Hedgehog

Main Article: Domesticated Hedgehog

The most common pet species of hedgehog is actually hybrid of the White-Bellied or Four-Toed Hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris) and the Algerian Hedgehog (A. algirus). It is smaller than the European Hedgehog, and thus is sometimes called African Pygmy Hedgehog. Other species kept as pets are the Egyptian long eared hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus auritus) and the Indian long eared hedgehog (Hemiechinus collaris).

All three species prefer a warm climate (above 72°F/22°C) and do not hibernate. Attempts to hibernate are commonly fatal. They eat a diet of mainly catfood, ferret food and insects and other animals.

It is legal to own a hedgehog as a pet in some US states and some Canadian municipalities, and you do need a license to breed them. No such restrictions exist in Europe.

Pest control

Image:Igel.JPG

Hedgehogs are a powerful form of pest control. A single hedgehog can keep an average garden free of pests by eating up to 200 grams of insects each night. Therefore, it is common throughout England to see people attempting to lure hedgehogs into their yards with treats and hedgehog-sized holes in their fences.

One problem with using hedgehogs for garden pest control is the use of chemical insecticide. While the hedgehog is immune to most poisons, it is not immune to them when ingesting insects full of the poison. This causes many hedgehog deaths where pet hedgehogs eat contaminated bugs inside the house.

In areas where hedgehogs have been introduced, such as New Zealand and the islands of Scotland, the hedgehog itself has become a pest. As with many introduced animals, it lacks natural predators. With overpopulation, it kills off more insects than initially intended and expands its diet to include things such as snails, worms, and the eggs of wading birds. Attempts to eliminate hedgehogs from bird colonies on the Scottish islands of North Uist and Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides have met with considerable opposition.

Hedgehog diseases

There are many diseases common to hedgehogs, mostly fatal. These include cancer, fatty liver disease, heart disease, and wobbly hedgehog syndrome.

Cancer is very common in hedgehogs. The most common is squamous cell carcinoma. Squamous cell spreads quickly from the bone to the organs in hedgehogs, unlike in humans. Surgery to remove the tumors is rare because it would result in removing too much bone structure.

Fatty liver disease is believed by many to be caused by bad diet. Hedgehogs will eagerly eat foods that are high in fat and sugar. Having a metabolism designed for low-fat, protein-rich insects, this leads to common problems of obesity. Fatty liver disease is one sign, heart disease is another.

Wobbly hedgehog syndrome is very similar to multiple sclerosis in humans. The hedgehog slowly loses muscle control. Initially, it wobbles when attempting to stand still. Given time, the hedgehog loses all muscle control, including control of the lungs and heart. Vitamin E has been shown to delay the deterioration, but it is very temporary as a higher and higher dose is required.

History

The common American holiday Groundhog Day was started in ancient Rome as Hedgehog Day and is still celebrated as such through much of the world. There are no native hedgehogs in America, so the early settlers chose the groundhog as a substitute.

The hedgehog was originally referred to as an urchin, which gives rise to other terms, such as calling an offensive child an urchin and the common sea urchin.

The hedgehog was introduced to New Zealand in 1870 and causes immense damage to native species including insects, snails and ground-nesting birds, particularly shore birds.

New Zealand's McGillicuddy Serious Party were unsuccessful in their attempt to get a hedgehog elected to Parliament.

List of species

Image:Long Eared hedgehog.jpg
Image:Porcupine-baby.jpg

Subfamily Erinaceinae (Hedgehogs)

Similar Species

See: Tenrec

External links

Hedgehog information

Hedgehog breeders/supplies

(May also contain hedgehog information)

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