Since hedgehogs (刺猬) are interesting animals, let us study their physical build, nature, habits, behavior and life from Wikipedia:
Hedgehogs are easily recognized 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 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.
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 the intruder with its spines, leaving rolling as a last resort. This results in a different number of
predators for different species: while forest hedgehogs have relatively few, primarily birds (especially
owls) and ferrets, smaller species like the Long-eared Hedgehog are preyed on by
foxes,
wolves and
mongooses.
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, grass, 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 wild hedgehogs can
hibernate, although not all do; hibernation depends on temperature, species, and abundance of food.
Hedgehogs are
fairly vocal, and communicate not only in a series of grunts and snuffles, but sometimes in loud squeals (depending on species).
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. It is not known what the specific purpose of this ritual is, 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 any predator that gets 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.
When kept in captivity hedgehogs tend to get along with other pets, including cats and dogs. On the rare occasions that they are threatened by these animals, the hedgehog will roll into a ball until the threat is gone.
Although traditionally classified in the now abandoned order Insectivora, hedgehogs are not exclusively insectivores but are almost omnivorous. Hedgehogs
feed on insects,
snails,
frogs and
toads,
snakes,
bird eggs,
carrion,
mushrooms,
grass roots,
berries,
melons, and
watermelons. In fact, berries constitute a major part of an Afghan Hedgehog's diet in early spring 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 welcomed as a
natural form of
garden pest control. Many people leave food out to attract hedgehogs. Although hedgehogs are lactose-intolerant, they will eagerly consume cheese, milk, and dairy products, causing illness.[citation needed] The common pet hedgehog (Four-toed Hedgehog) can however have a small portion of cottage cheese as a dietary supplement. Dog and cat food are better than dairy, but both are 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 one's garden.
More about hedgehogs:
A hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 16 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand. There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to North America; those in New Zealand are introduced. Hedgehogs have changed little over the last 15 million years. Like many of the first mammals they have adapted to a nocturnal, insectivorous way of life. 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.[2] Other folk names include 'urchin', 'hedgepig' and 'furze-pig' .
Let us see what David discovered in the sky after rain one day in May this year:
