In the Wild
•Hedgehogs are insectivores and like many other insectivores they can eat one third to one hundred percent of their body weight in insects and food every night.
•Hedgehogs eat the whole insect including the hard exoskeleton.
•Wild hedgehogs seem to have a preference for soft-bodied insects such as centipedes and millipedes when available. (Graffam)
•They are also opportunistic omnivores and may feed on small vertebrates they can catch or carrion they encounter. Birds’ eggs are said to be a hedgehog favorite.
•Hedgehogs do not have a cecum, which is the lower end of the colon in other animals. Herbivores have a relatively large cecum, hosting a number of bacteria, which aid in enzymatic breakdown of plant matter such as cellulose whereas carnivores have only a small portion of a cecum called vermiform appendix. Hedgehogs have been known to eat some seeds, soft fruit, and vegetation. Their body is not designed to digest plant matter; it is probable that they eat these foods because there is a shortage of their preferred diet.
•Traditionally, hedgehogs are a welcome friend in gardens and will never become agricultural pests.
Sat Jul 07, 2012 12:55 pm
