Hedgehogs facts

Did you know?

• Hedgehogs first appeared more than 15 million years ago – long before sabre
toothed tigers and mammoths

• Hedgehogs are covered in about 6,000 sharp spines

• Hedgehogs do not moult. Spines are lost and replaced one or two at a time, just like
human hair

• Hedgehogs hibernate in winter. Their temperature and pulse rate fall to very low
levels which helps them conserve energy.

• Hedgehogs will wake up from hibernation in mild weather. They will prowl about
before tucking up in a different nest

• Hedgehogs are nocturnal and have poor eyesight, but have a powerful sense of
smell. It’s said that a hedgehog can smell a worm when it is 2.5cm underground

• People used to bring hedgehogs into their houses to munch on the cockroaches

• Hedgehogs can reach a top speed of 6 miles per hour, but only in short bursts

• Hedgehogs have special muscles which help them roll up into a tight prickly ball,
making it impossible for foxes and most other predators to eat them

• Hedgehogs have been found with over 500 fleas living among their spines. Luckily
these fleas only like the taste of hedgehog blood

• There are about a dozen species of hedgehog found across Europe, Asia, India, Africa
and the Middle East, our is the European hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus

• Hedgehogs were introduced to New Zealand by homesick settlers a long time ago, they can still be found there.