Hedgehog animal. Description, features, types, lifestyle and habitat of the hedgehog

Any child knows the appearance of a forest “bag of needles” - a hedgehog. But not every adult will be able to tell about the details of a hedgehog’s behavior and lifestyle. Because the hedgehog is a wild animal.

For example, many people think that hedgehogs are only forest animals. In fact, these small mammals live in both steppes and deserts. They are distributed only in northern Africa and on the Eurasian mainland. Their closest relatives, oddly enough, are not spiny porcupines, but ordinary moles and shrews.

All 23 species of hedgehogs living on earth are insectivores.

Features of the appearance of hedgehogs

Hedgehogs are small animals, with a body length of 10–20 cm. Weight ranges from 300 to 800 g. The tail is almost invisible, the legs are short, but they also walk quite quickly with them - they mince. The large head has small eyes and ears. Only one species, the long-eared hedgehog, has large ears.

Listen to the hedgehog's voice

Hedgehogs have good hearing, but their vision is poor. However, this is compensated by the fact that sensitive vibrissae are located on the sharp elongated muzzle closer to the nose. Thanks to them, hedgehogs have an excellent sense of smell.

Hedgehog spines are modified hair, but unlike fur, they never change. Only small hedgehogs or sick animals can lose spines.

Of course, the most interesting thing about hedgehogs is their spines, which never fall out. They are modified hairs and cover not only the back, but also the sides and forehead. The most unprotected place is the belly, because the fur on it is soft. Almost all species are gray or brown, only the spines at the tips are white. It is very rare to see hedgehogs that are completely white.

The long-eared hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus) is a typical desert inhabitant

The hedgehog can curl up into a ball in times of danger. In this he is helped by the circular muscles located in the places where the spines grow.

How do wild hedgehogs live?

Hedgehogs live in small burrows under the roots of bushes or trees. They live alone, do not create pairs. During the day, hedgehogs sleep more often, and at night they come out to look for food. Northern species Over the summer they gain a lot of fat and go into hibernation for the winter.

When walking, the animals are not careful at all: they rustle leaves and make loud puffing noises. After all, if an enemy appears, you can always put up thorns and defend yourself. A hedgehog can lie curled up in a ball for quite a long time until the danger passes.

However, these animals feed on insects, worms, snails, caterpillars, slugs, and some species eat lizards and snakes. Hedgehogs are insensitive to snake venom. They can dine in a bird's nest and catch a small rodent.

Reproduction of hedgehogs

Once a year, closer to summer, after two months of gestation, the female gives birth to up to 5 hedgehogs. The male finds her by smell, and before that he manages to fight with another male. True, this can be called a fight purely symbolically - the males push each other with their foreheads and bite each other’s paws.

Where does a hedgehog live and what does it eat? Such questions are not uncommon, because these cute animals are of interest to many.

Hedgehogs are animals of the chordate class of mammals of the order Urchiniformes of the family Urchinidae. The hedgehog has a body length from 10 to 44 cm (depending on the species), its weight can vary from 300 grams to one and a half kilograms. In addition, the animal has a tail ranging from 1 to 21 cm in length.

What does this animal look like?

The animal's large head is wedge-shaped. The muzzle is elongated, the nose is mobile, pointed and moist to the touch. A hedgehog's teeth are sharp and small. On upper jaw There are 20 of them, on the bottom there are only 16. Certain types of hedgehogs have a different number of teeth - up to 44. Large firsts the incisors vaguely resemble fangs.

The hedgehog's front legs are shorter than its hind legs. There are five fingers on each limb, except for the white-bellied hedgehog, which has four on its hind legs. Hedgehogs have long middle toes, which are used to clean their needles.

The hedgehog's spines are hollow formations, between which there is a growth of thin and sparse hairs, barely noticeable to the eye. The abdomen and head of the animal are covered with ordinary fur.

The main thing is needles!

The average number of needles on each hedgehog is up to 10,000, and their constant growth and renewal occurs. They are mostly dark in color, sometimes alternating with stripes of a lighter shade.

Depending on the species, a hedgehog can be brown, black, brown, sandy or even white in color. In some places, white and black colors alternate with the formation of spots. Most hedgehogs have well-developed subcutaneous muscles. A characteristic feature of these animals is to curl up into a ball when encountering danger. It is for this purpose that developed subcutaneous muscles are needed, which are located along the line of spine growth.

The hedgehog is a nocturnal animal with poor vision. As compensation, nature endowed him with excellent sense of smell and hearing. This animal cannot be called agile. The hedgehog usually runs away at an average speed of no more than 3-4 km per hour. The hedgehog is a land animal, but most of its species can swim well.

The natural lifespan of a hedgehog is about 3-5 years. If you place a hedgehog at home, then in the absence natural enemies he is able to live up to 8-10 years. In nature, its life is shorter. In the forest where the hedgehog lives, he becomes the object of hunting by foxes, wolves, owls, badgers, ferrets, mongooses, jackals, hyenas, eagles and many other predators. And even in the conditions of, for example, a city park, his life is full of dangers.

Where do hedgehogs live in summer and winter?

Their habitat can be considered quite wide. These small prickly animals can be found in any European country; they are found in abundance both in Russia and in much hotter Africa. Hedgehogs also live in the Middle East, New Zealand and Asia.

The places where the hedgehog lives in nature are deserts, forests, steppes, and cultivated landscapes. Even urban areas are no exception. When setting up a home, he digs a hole under the roots of a tree or in the bushes. Sometimes you can find an abandoned rodent hole where a hedgehog lived.

Hedgehog lifestyle

The hedgehog by nature itself is conceived as a solitary nocturnal animal, whose lifestyle is rather secretive. Usually in the mink where the hedgehog lives (its length can reach 1 meter), he sleeps throughout the day. Those populations that live in foothill areas can hide in voids under stones and crevices between rocks.

In the area near the burrows where hedgehogs live, they go out to hunt at night in the summer. Unfortunately, according to statistics, a very large number of them die under the wheels of cars when trying to cross roads in the dark.

What do hedgehogs eat in the wild?

They are omnivores. Their diet is based on insects, spiders, beetles, earwigs, caterpillars, slugs, earthworms and woodlice. The hedgehog will not refuse to try a toad, locust, crustacean or bird eggs. The population of hedgehogs living in the north readily eats small rodents (mice, etc.), as well as frogs and lizards.

Representatives of hedgehogs are quite resistant to any poison, even very toxic ones. That is why hedgehogs easily deal with scorpions and poisonous snakes. They will not even refuse carrion or found food waste.

As a plant food forest hedgehogs They eat moss, mushrooms, acorns, cereal seeds and any berry - raspberries, blackberries, strawberries. The hedgehog's task is to fatten up properly during the summer, otherwise the animal will not be able to survive during hibernation. Having accumulated a good supply of fat, the hedgehog enters a state of suspended animation during the period from October to April.

How do hedgehogs reproduce?

Their mating season begins at the end of hibernation, when the air temperature reaches 18-20 degrees. Sexual maturity in each animal begins at the age of 10-12 months. Hedgehog populations living in the north reproduce once a year. Inhabitants southern regions- twice.

The nest for the offspring is made by the female in the hole where the hedgehog lives, by lining it with grass and dry leaves. Fights for the female are not uncommon between males. Hedgehog massacres are accompanied by snorting, snorting, biting and pricking with sharp needles. Before mating, the female tries to smooth out her numerous spines. Hedgehogs are polygamous animals; they are not characterized by the formation of strong families.

The female hedgehog bears the offspring for a period of time, which, depending on the species, can range from 34 to 58 days. As a result, in the hole where the hedgehog lived, cubs number from 1 to 7 (most often there are 4). The weight of a newborn hedgehog is about 5 grams; they are born blind and naked, covered with bright pink skin.

During the first day of life, the body of a newborn hedgehog is covered with soft small needles. After two weeks, the needle-like cover of these animals is completely formed. The female feeds the cubs with milk during the first month, then a period of independent existence begins for the young animals.

About certain types of hedgehogs

The entire hedgehog family can be divided into two different subfamilies - true hedgehogs and rat hedgehogs. In total, these animals exist in 7 genera and 23 species. Let's talk briefly about some of their interesting representatives.

1. The most common type of hedgehog is the common or European hedgehog with a body length of about 20-30 cm and a small tail up to 3 cm in size. It weighs about 800 g, and the needles are about 3 cm in size.

The color of such a hedgehog is brownish-brownish with dark crossbars. Where does the common hedgehog live in nature? Representatives of this species are typical inhabitants of plains, parks and woodlands in the countries of Europe, Russia and Kazakhstan. In autumn or spring period Hedgehogs shed slowly, replacing about a third of all their needles.

2. The so-called long-eared hedgehog is distinguished by long ears that grow up to 5 centimeters in size. The representatives of the species themselves are quite small, measuring from 12 to 20 cm in length and weighing about 430 g. The needles of the long-eared hedgehog are short - measuring from 1.7 to 1.9 cm. They are found in dry steppes and semi-deserts, where they try to gather near water sources . The territory where this species of hedgehog lives includes Africa and Asia, Kazakhstan, India, China and Mongolia. In Russia, the long-eared hedgehog can be found in the Volga region and Ural mountains.

3. Eastern European hedgehogs are similar in appearance to European ones, but have lighter fur on the belly and neck compared to the sides and head. An adult can grow up to 35 cm in length, and the weight of a hedgehog over the summer can reach 1.2 kg.

They are found in Germany, Austria and Slovenia, in Kazakhstan and the Urals, as well as on the Mediterranean islands. Their habitat can be very different - parks, copses, garden plots and even river valleys.

4. African dwarf (or white-bellied) hedgehogs are from 15 to 22 cm in length. Their weight is only 350-700 g. With a brown and gray color, the needles of these hedgehogs have White color. All hedgehogs usually snort quietly, but the African hedgehog can make quite loud sounds when in danger. As the name suggests, they live African hedgehogs south of the Sahara Desert - in Nigeria, Sudan, Senegal, Ethiopia and Mauritania.

Hedgehogs as pets: features of care and maintenance

A variety of pets are popular these days. Hedgehogs are no exception. But the option of catching a wild animal in the forest and delivering it home is not the most The best decision. In nature, wild hedgehogs can be carriers of one of the dangerous diseases - ringworm, salmonellosis, hemorrhagic fever and even rabies. In addition, they almost always have ticks and fleas.

Therefore, if you decide to have pet hedgehog It is best to contact a trusted breeder who guarantees a healthy pet with good heredity, adapted to living conditions in captivity.

How to take care of your hedgehog

If you let your pet hedgehog out for a walk around the apartment, keep an eye on it. There is a risk that your pet will get tangled in the wires, get hurt, or chew on some necessary item.

The hedgehog's cage needs to be cleaned of dirt every day to avoid an unpleasant odor. As already said, the hedgehog is a solitary animal. Therefore, when deciding to have two hedgehogs at the same time, make sure that each of them has a separate cage.

Due to the fact that the hedgehog is a nocturnal animal, it can disturb you at night - snorting, puffing and rustling.

What does a hedgehog eat at home?

It should be fed with raw lean meat, finely chopped, fresh fish or boiled liver. Delicacies for hedgehogs include bloodworms, cockroaches, mealworms or crickets. Your pet will not refuse carrots or apples.

How and where do hedgehogs live at home in winter? The future owner of a prickly pet should be aware that even domestic hedgehogs kept in captivity tend to hibernate. Although its duration will be shorter than in natural conditions. If this phase is canceled, the animals may die by spring. This does not apply only to the breed of hedgehogs called African dwarfs - it is not customary for them to hibernate.

In the autumn, the hedgehog requires increased feeding, this is when it accumulates fat reserves. In October and early November, you can observe a period of lethargy and torpor in him, which means the transition to hibernation. For her, the hedgehog should be allocated a secluded place in the house with a temperature of no more than 5 degrees Celsius, preferably somewhere in the attic, in a barn or on a loggia. If the temperature is higher, the hibernation process may not begin. The nest of a domestic hedgehog should be covered with sawdust, dry leaves, rags or straw.

The body length of a hedgehog is approximately 20-30 cm. The average weight of an adult individual reaches just under 1 kg.

Scientific classification:

Species: Common hedgehog

Genus: Eurasian hedgehogs

Family: Hedgehogs

Class: Mammals

Order: Insectivores

Type: Chordata

Kingdom: Animals

Domain: Eukaryotes

The upper part of the hedgehog's body is covered with spines. The needles are small - up to 3 cm in length. The hedgehog's needles themselves are hollow and filled with air inside. Needles grow at the same speed as hair. The hedgehog's belly and head are covered with fur. The paws have 5 toes with claws.

Where does the hedgehog live?

The common hedgehog is common in Central and Western Europe, in the south of Scandinavia, in Kazakhstan, in Russia, introduced to New Zealand. Hedgehogs can live in different areas, but will avoid swamps and heavily overgrown forests. They prefer to live near clearings and forest edges. They can live near human settlements.

What does a hedgehog eat?

The animal hedgehog is not very picky when it comes to food. It can eat both berries and fruits, and happily eats insects, worms, caterpillars, mice, slugs, numb reptiles and amphibians. It also feeds on eggs and chicks of small birds that nest on the ground.

Hedgehog lifestyle

Hedgehogs do not like to go far from their home. They live in nests that they make themselves in bushes, burrows, holes, covering their nest with grass, moss or leaves. During the daytime they stay in their nests or other shelters, and at night they go out hunting. Hedgehogs can run quite fast - up to 3 m/s; they can also jump and swim well.

In winter, hedgehogs hibernate. To do this, they need to gain a sufficient amount of fat over the summer, otherwise the hedgehog will not survive the winter. With the onset of frost, the hedgehog closes the entrance to its hole and hibernates. They usually sleep from October to April. The hedgehog will not go outside until the air temperature rises to 15 degrees Celsius.

Reproduction of hedgehogs

The mating season for hedgehogs begins immediately after hibernation. Male hedgehogs can fight for females. Having won the attention of the female, the hedgehog circles around her for hours. The anatomy of hedgehogs is designed in such a way that the hedgehog does not need to almost completely climb onto the female - it is simply located behind. The pregnancy of a female hedgehog lasts about 50 days. From 3 to 8 hedgehogs are born at a time. They are born blind, naked, pink and deaf. After some time, the first white needles appear.

The female hedgehog feeds her babies with milk for about a month. By the age of one year, hedgehogs reach sexual maturity. In total, hedgehogs live on average 3-5 years. And in captivity they can live up to 10 years.

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Hedgehog a mammal belonging to the chordate class, the hedgehog family. Origin hedgehog ordinary has not yet been studied. On the one hand, the name hedgehog translated from Greek as snake eater, on the other hand, translated as “stab”. Today we will talk about habitat hedgehog, we find out where and how he lives and eats, what facts there are about hedgehog. Let's start with the description common hedgehog.

Description of an ordinary hedgehog

Body length common hedgehog is 20-30 cm, tail 3 cm, weight up to 800 gr. Hedgehog color brown-brown, with dark, peculiar crossbars. U hedgehog fairly large wedge-shaped heads with a pointed muzzle and a long wet nose. Teeth Although they are small, they are sharp! On lower jaw 16 teeth, 20 on the top, 44 teeth in total. Hind legs hedgehog longer than the front ones, each of which has 5 fingers; it is the middle fingers that help the hedgehog clean the needles. Needles it is hollow, and short hairs can be seen between them, and regular hair on the belly and head. Hedgehog He carries approximately 10 thousand needles on himself, which are renewed from time to time. Shedding it happens slowly, in the autumn-spring period only every third needle changes, where the needles grow for about a year, sometimes longer.

Hedgehog The animal is nocturnal, so its vision is weak, but its sense of smell and hearing is acute. In case of danger, he curls up into a ball or runs away, where his speed will be 3-4 km/h. In addition, he swims well. The lifespan of such a hedgehog on average 3-5 years. But at home it can live 8-10 years.

Habitat of the common hedgehog

As we said, the hedgehog lives 3-5 years, and its lifespan depends on natural enemies that always hunt it: wolves, eagles, ferrets, foxes, mongooses, hyenas, jackals, owls, martens, badgers, honey badgers and many other predators. Hedgehogs live in forests, steppes, deserts, in cities. They dig holes for themselves under the roots of trees, under bushes, or settle in abandoned holes. On one's own hedgehog digs a 1-meter hole, preferring to hide near voids under stones or in crevices between rocks. During the day hedgehog sleeps and goes out hunting at night. Common hedgehogs live in Western and Central Europe, in North-West Russia, in Great Britain, in Kazakhstan.

NUTRITION, INTERESTING FACTS OF THE COMMON HEDGEHOG

What does the common hedgehog eat?

Hedgehog Omnivore, in nature it feeds on both insects and fruits. Among insects, he happily eats earthworms, beetles, spiders, caterpillars, slugs, earwigs, and ground beetles. Jerzy They love lizards, mice, bird eggs, frogs and toads, locusts, crustaceans and invertebrates. Besides mice, wild hedgehog eats and other small rodents, its diet is incredibly varied. In addition, it is resistant to poison, such as snakes and scorpions, which allows you to dine on them without fear. From plant foods an ordinary hedgehog eats cereals, raspberries, mushrooms, apples, strawberries, blackberries, moss, acorns. But the carrion and garbage on summer cottages won’t eat, that’s a myth! Hedgehog eats well over the summer, because in winter time may die in hibernation. It is the fat reserve that allows them to survive hibernation from October to April.

Common hedgehog interesting facts

1. Hedgehog appeared on Earth 15 million years ago

2. The Ancient Romans Used Skins hedgehogs for combing sheep

3. Hibernating, temperature hedgehog can reach 2 degrees

4. Fried hedgehog- a favorite delicacy of gypsies

5. Jerzy are not able to catch up with the mouse, although they are not averse to such prey

6. Serbs treat alcoholism with hedgehog urine, and use his little heart as a talisman

7. As we often see in cartoons, hedgehog carrying mushrooms or apples on needles – that’s a myth! It is not able to curl up in such a way as to place food on the needles

8. At the beginning of the 20th century, the McDonalds restaurant chain destroyed many hedgehogs by chance. The fact is that the ice cream cups were narrow, and hedgehogs at the garbage dumps, they happily stuck their heads into these cups and licked the remnants of the sweet, but the trouble was that, due to the diameter, they could not pull their heads back out and fell into a trap! Animal rights activists protested, and the restaurant increased the diameter of the glass.

VIDEO: COMMON HEDGEHOG

IN THIS VIDEO YOU WILL SEE WHAT AN ORDINARY HEDGEHOG LOOKS LIKE AND YOU WILL LEARN A LOT OF USEFUL AND INTERESTING THINGS

Hedgehog - a predatory nocturnal animal small sizes(body length 20-30 cm, weight - 700-800 g) with a short tail (length - 3 cm). It lives mainly in mixed and deciduous forests, but also penetrates into the taiga and steppe. Hedgehogs can be found in neglected gardens, parks and even in grain fields bordering the forest. During the day it hides under a pile of brushwood and leaves among the bushes, and at night it comes out to feed. During the night, the hedgehog sometimes travels up to 3 km. In the dark, he finds food with the help of his subtle sense of smell, although, to a certain extent, he is helped by vision and hearing. Beetles serve as food for hedgehogs, earthworms, woodlice, mollusks, newts, frogs, toads, lizards, snakes, mice, voles, shrews, as well as berries, acorns, fallen ripe fruits of apple trees, pears and other trees.

In case of danger, the hedgehog curls up into a ball, pressing its head to its belly and pulling its paws and tail under itself: the result is a prickly ball with needles sticking out in all directions. The hedgehog's spines are modified hair located only on the back: the muzzle and abdomen are covered with regular hair. When meeting with forest animals(wolf, marten, fox), the hedgehog snorts and jumps, trying to prick the enemy. If this does not help, it curls up into a ball, exposing its spiny back to the attacking predator. Often, after pricking the face with needles, the attacker leaves the hedgehog alone. But this doesn't always happen. The hedgehog has enemies from whom neither needles nor curling up into a ball can save it. So, during a night hunt, an eagle owl successfully attacks a hedgehog. It is not afraid of the animal's quills, because the toes of this bird are covered with durable scales. The soft plumage of the eagle owl makes its flight silent and allows it to catch its prey by surprise. There is no escape for the hedgehog from the fox, which carefully rolls it with its paw to the shore of a forest puddle or swamp and throws it into the water. The water penetrates the hedgehog's belly, and it straightens its back, stretches out its muzzle and swims to the shore. Here a fox is waiting for him, pierces his sharp teeth into the head unprotected by needles and gnaws the hedgehog.

But when meeting with a viper, the hedgehog emerges victorious. He grabs her by the tail and immediately curls up into a ball. At the first attempt to bite its enemy, the viper encounters needles. Meanwhile, the hedgehog gradually pulls the viper under him and then eats it. Perhaps the viper's venom does not affect the hedgehog, since the hedgehog is not sensitive to many toxic substances. It eats, for example, Spanish flies, which contain cantharidin, which has a fatal effect on other animals, eats foul-smelling bedbugs, and is not afraid of the poison of bees, bumblebees, or caustic blood. ladybugs, hairy caterpillars.

In the spring (April), the hedgehog produces 5-7 blind hedgehogs with soft whitish needles, which she feeds with milk. Until the age of one month, the cubs are in a nest built by the female in the form of a hut made of dry leaves, brushwood, and moss. If a person or animal discovers the nest, the hedgehog carries her babies in her teeth to another den. After 1.5-2 months, the hedgehogs leave the nest, but begin independent life only late in the fall. By winter (October), hedgehogs become fat and fall asleep. deep hibernation, finding refuge in dense bushes, depressions in the soil, covered with fallen leaves, among forest brushwood. The hedgehog wakes up only when the frost stops.

The importance of the hedgehog cannot be assessed unambiguously. It can be both useful and harmful. It causes harm by eating beneficial insects (bumblebees, bees, carrion beetles, ground beetles, etc.), insectivorous animals (shrews, moles), chicks and eggs of birds nesting on the ground. At the same time, the hedgehog brings benefits by destroying forest pests such as beetles and their larvae, caterpillars and sawfly pupae, cutworms, weevils, eating mouse-like rodents and poisonous insects.