The image of the prickly inhabitant of forests and steppes is well known to everyone. From children's books, the idea of ​​a simple-minded and harmless animal, which is often encountered near forest borders and steppe roads, persists. origin of name common hedgehog has Latin roots and is translated as “thorny barrier.”

Features and habitat of the hedgehog

Various types There are more than 20 hedgehogs, but they are largely similar and recognizable due to their elongated muzzles on a rather large head for an average-sized hedgehog up to 20 cm long. The beady eyes are very lively and expressive, but they see poorly. But the sense of smell and hearing are excellent, although the antennae on the constantly wet and mobile nose and ears are small.

Many people mistakenly believe that hedgehog – group of animals with family ties. In fact, the similarity is deceptive; relatives of hedgehogs live among shrews and lesser-known tenrecs and gymnurs. Hedgehog-like animal prickly clothes - not always his relative. So, a sea urchin is an animal , having no resemblance to a forest dweller, except for the name.

Hedgehog is an insectivorous animal, average weight The animal weighs almost 800 g, but before hibernation it gains weight to about 1200 g. Males are slightly larger in size than females. The hedgehog's front legs are shorter than its hind legs, and five toes on each are equipped with sharp claws. The small tail, up to 3 cm, is almost invisible under the animal’s needle-like coat.

Brownish-light needles up to 3 cm in size, hollow inside. Under each needle there is a muscle fiber that can raise and lower it. Approximately 1-2 needles out of three grow and fall out every year. There is no complete shedding of the fur coat; gradual renewal of the coat occurs over a year and a half. Only sick individuals shed their needles.

The number of spines in one adult hedgehog reaches 5-6 thousand, and in a young animal - up to 3 thousand spines. There are also sparse blond hairs between the needles, but on the belly and head they are thick and darker in color. The gray plain woolen coat is more common, but among the hedgehogs there are white-bellied and spotted species.

Hedgehogs are known to curl up into a spiny ball if danger threatens. This possibility is associated with the work of the circular muscles, the ability to stretch the upper layers of the skin.

Animals can remain in this state for a long time until the threat passes. The needles grow at different angles and form a strong interweaving of spines. Such an impregnable ball.

Animal hedgehogs inhabit only two continents: Eurasia and northern regions. Despite the similarity of the climate of Europe and, there are no hedgehogs there anymore, although fossil remains indicate a former settlement.

Mixed forests and copses, grassy plains, overgrown river floodplains, steppes, and sometimes habitats of prickly animals. Only swampy places and coniferous areas are avoided. Your territory hedgehogs in the animal world They do not mark, they live alone, mainly in a certain territory, which they regularly explore in search of food.

Hedgehogs are often found near human habitation or objects economic activity: in park areas, abandoned gardens, on the outskirts of cities and in grain fields. Contribute to this Forest fires, bad weather or lack of food.

Character and lifestyle of a hedgehog

Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals During the day, they hide among the foliage and windbreaks of bushes, between the roots of plants. They do not like heat and hide in shallow, cool burrows or nests made of dry grass, moss, and leaves. The dimensions of such a dwelling are few more sizes owner, up to 20-25 cm. Here the animal takes care of the fur coat on the chest and abdomen, licking it with its tongue.

In the dark, a subtle sense of smell helps, vision and hearing contribute. The activity of the animals reflects the route, reaching 3 km per night. Short legs do not allow them to move quickly, but with quick steps, hedgehogs are carried rapidly for their size at a speed of up to 3 m/sec. In addition, hedgehogs are good jumpers and swimmers.

TO what kind of animal is a hedgehog by character, everyone knows. He is peaceful, but he has many enemies in nature: wolves, ferrets, kites, eagle owls,... When meeting an enemy, the hedgehog first jumps on the predator in order to prick, and then the ball of needles becomes an impregnable fortress. Having punctured the paws and muzzle, the attacker loses interest in the prey and leaves.

But there are cunning ways to deceive the simple-minded hedgehog. Those of the animals that eat hedgehogs, have the intelligence of a predator. The insidious one silently attacks and seeks to take its prey by surprise.

Strong scales on the bird's feet protect against prickly pricks. The fox tricks the hedgehog into the water or throws it from a hill into a pond. Having opened its abdomen and muzzle, a swimming animal becomes vulnerable to a predator.

In a duel hedgehog and snake the winner will be the fearless prickly animal. Grabbing her by the tail and curling into a ball, he patiently pulls her under him. An interesting fact is that hedgehogs are insensitive to many poisons.

For example, the caustic blood of caterpillars or ladybugs, bee venom, and cantharidin from Spanish flies do not harm the prickly inhabitants, although such poisons cause death to other animals.

Hydrocyanic acid, opium, arsenic or sublimate have a weak effect on hedgehogs. By autumn, the animals accumulate fat for hibernation. Species of hedgehogs living in the southern regions remain active all year round.

The hibernation period takes place in the hole. The body temperature drops and the pulse decreases to 20-60 beats per minute. Awakening occurs in the spring when the air warms up by April. If there is not enough subcutaneous fat, the animal may die of starvation.

Hedgehogs know their areas and protect them from the encroachments of their relatives. Females occupy up to 10 hectares of area, and males occupy 2-3 times more. Their stay is indicated by noisy snorting, sounds similar to sneezing. Baby hedgehogs whistle and quack like birds.

Hedgehog food

Hedgehogs' diet is based on animal food, consisting of beetles, earthworms, frogs, mice, shrews, and lizards. The prickly resident feasts on various insects and their larvae, snails, slugs, and can destroy a bird’s nest with eggs or hatched chicks.

In general, gluttony and omnivorousness are explained by activity and the need to store subcutaneous fat. Hedgehogs are toothy animals: 20 upper and 16 lower teeth help them cope with a wide variety of foods. Berries and plant fruits can be an addition to animal food.

Hedgehogs especially need food after emerging from hibernation. To restore strength, the animal can eat up to 1/3 of its weight overnight. In captivity, hedgehogs willingly eat meat, eggs, bread, ice cream and even oatmeal. A misconception is the idea of ​​a hedgehog as a lover of sour cream and milk. Such food is contraindicated for him due to lactose intolerance.

Reproduction and life expectancy of a hedgehog

Mating season occurs in spring, after hibernation, or in summer. Males fight for the female through local fights: they bite, prick themselves with needles and sniffle menacingly at each other. There are no special rituals; the winner finds the female by smell.

After mating, pregnancy lasts on average from 40 to 56 days. Cubs appear only once a year. There are usually 4 hedgehogs in a litter. Babies are born completely helpless, blind and naked.

In the photo there is a newborn baby hedgehog

But after a few hours, protective needles appear on the pink skin. At first they are soft, but within a day the prickly cover hardens and grows. The development of hedgehogs is such that they first become covered with a protective coat, then learn to curl up into a ball, and only then open their eyes.

Up to a month, the cubs are fed with mother's milk. The female and her babies live in a secluded den made of collected leaves and brushwood. If someone discovers the nest, the hedgehog takes the offspring to another safe place. Hedgehogs begin to lead an independent life at about two months of age, but finally leave their native den in late autumn. Sexual maturity occurs at 12 months.

The life expectancy of hedgehogs in nature is short, 3-5 years. The reason lies in the large number of predators. In captivity they live longer, up to 10-15 years. But animals are not adapted to being kept at home.

It should be noted that they lead night look life, make noise and are completely untrainable. Therefore experience dictates that hedgehogs– not recommended Pets. Many people consider hedgehogs to be useless animals for humans. But what kind of animal is a hedgehog, nature itself judged, generously dispersing them around the world.

Problems registering on the site? CLICK HERE ! Do not pass by a very interesting section of our website - visitor projects. There you will always find the latest news, jokes, weather forecast (in an ADSL newspaper), TV program of terrestrial and ADSL-TV channels, the latest and most interesting news from the world of high technology, the most original and amazing pictures from the Internet, a large archive of magazines last years, delicious recipes in pictures, informative. The section is updated daily. Always latest versions the best free programs for everyday use in the Required programs section. There is almost everything you need for everyday work. Start gradually abandoning pirated versions in favor of more convenient and functional free analogues. If you still do not use our chat, we highly recommend that you get acquainted with it. There you will find many new friends. In addition, it is the fastest and effective way contact the project administrators. The Antivirus Updates section continues to work - always up-to-date free updates for Dr Web and NOD. Didn't have time to read something? Full content The ticker can be found at this link.

Secrets behind the needles, or who hedgehogs are

What types of hedgehogs are there?

There are 19 species of all kinds of hedgehogs on our planet. Four of them, alas, are without thorns (South Asia). The rest are more or less prickly (Europe, Asia, Africa). There are four species of hedgehogs in the USSR. The common or European hedgehog is found in Europe, Asia, Eastern China and Korea, here - from the northern shores of Lake Ladoga to the Crimea and the Caucasus, from western borders to the Ob in the east. In addition, the Daurian hedgehog is found in the Amur region and in the Primorsky Territory. The Daurian hedgehog differs from the ordinary one in that on the crown of its head it does not have a longitudinal strip of bare skin (without hair and spines). And his morals are different: he lives in the steppe (Transbaikalia and Mongolia), hiding in the holes of gophers and marmots. Without waiting for twilight, he goes out hunting before dark.

Where do hedgehogs live?

Different hedgehogs - different habits. Some live in forests, more and more in spruce and pine forests (hedgehogs don’t like dampness). Others are in the steppes, fields, hedges and bushes. Still others are mountaineers by nature, prefer to breathe mountain air, and settle in the highlands, up to two thousand meters above sea level.

And there are those who like to live with people in the neighborhood: in barns, gardens, barns. These are very gullible. They are not especially afraid of people. But just in case, puffing and curling up into a ball (not very dense), they protect themselves with needles. Both in captivity and in the wild, hedgehogs love milk. It happens that somewhere in the corner of the barn they wait to see if the milkmaid will splash a trickle of milk past the bucket. For the hedgehog, this is a holiday treat. People, having caught a hedgehog at such a feast, sometimes thought that he had fed himself. This is where the belief was born that hedgehogs milk cows.

Hedgehog gossip

And there is also a reputation about hedgehogs: they are good mousecatchers. If there are mice in the cellar, you need to let the hedgehog in there. He will catch them all. Better than cats.

Hardly either. The hedgehog sometimes eats dead mice (although not very willingly). It's right. But it is difficult for him, a slow-moving creature, to catch a live mouse in a large room. Mice usually live for quite a long time in a cage with hedgehogs. It happens that, having successfully driven it into a corner, the hedgehog will catch and eat the mouse. But his entire behavior suggests that such game is not the most common and desirable for him.

You can't kill a hedgehog with poison

But it’s worth watching how he deals with snakes! There are, of course, failures: a viper manages to catch it and bites the prickly one on the nose. It’s good if the nose is slightly swollen, hurts a little and heals. But a hedgehog can die from a snake bite.

The hedgehog eats the entire snake, often including its head and poisonous glands. This is very amazing! Moreover, it also eats (and in considerable numbers) poisonous insects: Spanish flies, beetles and t-shirts, in whose blood there is a very strong poison cantharidin and therefore none of the insectivores, except the hedgehog, seem to touch them. Destroys the nests of bumblebees, wasps, bees and devours these stingers without fear. They sting him: one hedgehog was stung by 52 bees at once, but he did not die or get sick.

People, trying to understand why this was so, poisoned hedgehogs with various poisons: arsenic, sublimate, opium, chloroform. Doses that were too large killed, but it still turned out that hedgehogs tolerate all the poisons tested better than even humans, even though the hedgehog is many times smaller. Everything is edible to his taste: whatever he gets into his teeth, the hedgehog always eats without limiting it. One, abundantly endowed with mealworms, destroyed about 2 kilograms in 10 days!

What do hedgehogs eat and where do they sleep?

It’s a lot of work for a prickly one to feed itself. All night he stomps around and sniffs out where to eat what. During the day he sleeps under a bush, dead wood, between roots, and sometimes in a hole. She usually has two exits: one of them, the windiest, is plugged with dry leaves. In similar places, the hedgehog settles for the winter in October - November. Then he will gather (in his mouth, mainly) more different foliage and moss, arrange everything in a loose lump, climb inside and, curled up, sleep until spring, until April. During this hibernation, its body cools down, but in any frost its temperature is no less than 5-6 degrees. When a hedgehog sleeps in winter, he naturally does not eat anything, breathes very rarely, and all metabolic processes proceed at a slow pace. But when he wakes up, even, sometimes, in a strong thaw, he really wants to eat and, if he doesn’t find anything (this usually happens), then for the rest of the winter, falling back into sleep, he may not survive the winter, die, but not from the cold, but from hunger.

Spring came

When hedgehogs wake up in the spring, the first thing they do is want to eat. Then the already well-fed males begin to be irresistibly drawn to the females. Every night he looks for them and several gather around one. At first she is not at all nice to them. He snorts at the gentlemen, even jumps on them. But they follow her everywhere. However, they are unfriendly among themselves, quarrel endlessly, destroy, pushing away rivals, and immediately demand satisfaction and receive it - not with pistols, but with needles. They fence by striking the enemy with the spines of a hood that creeps over the forehead. Then, noticing with alarm that the cause of their quarrel has already gone far on its short legs, they hurry after it, concluding a temporary truce, and so on for many nights in a row. And only in April, but periodically throughout the summer until August. Because female hedgehogs are not all ready to conceive and give birth at the same time, but others, having given birth at the beginning of summer, give birth a second time at the end of it. In general, from May to September, newborn hedgehogs can be found in the forest, but most often in June-August.

Hedgehogs - babies

A hedgehog's pregnancy lasts five to six weeks, and newborns are two to ten. No matter how small hedgehogs are, compared to a baby, even a three-month-old kangaroo, they are giants: weight 12-25 grams, and length 5-9 cm. They are blind, deaf, toothless, studded with sparse soft white needles, like poorly plucked chickens. Although the needles are soft, nature still takes precautions in order not to injure the mother in labor: the needles of newborn hedgehogs are drawn into the skin, swollen from the abundance of water in it. And as soon as they are born, their needles immediately become bristling, and after two days new, darker and sharper ones begin to grow. Two weeks later, the baby’s entire back was already thickly overgrown with them, and the “milky” white needles all fell out. At the same time, the hedgehogs’ eyes open, and after another week or two, sharp teeth will erupt. On the eleventh day, hedgehogs already know how to curl up into a ball.

Their father lives with their mother until they are born, and then leaves and never returns to his offspring, leaving the mother to take care of him. The first day she doesn’t leave the hedgehogs for a minute. Feeds with milk. The hedgehogs are still blind and deaf, but they are already fighting over the nipple, which contains more milk. They don't bite, they don't scratch, they box. The skin with needles that creeps onto the forehead of hedgehogs is very mobile. The hedgehogs quickly push it forward and, like a boxer with a fist, hit the enemy with this prickly hood. A weak hedgehog, as if from a good knockout, flies to the side from such a blow. The hedgehog's mother does not interfere in fights - this fuss is instead of gymnastics. They will be stronger.

When leaving the nest, the mother wraps the hedgehogs in grass and leaves. There are such small bags in the nest. They are invisible, and they are warm in the package.

Growing and learning

While the eyes are closed, the prickly ones do not leave the nest. But as soon as the world reveals all its visible diversity to them, won’t you go and see what’s going on around you? And they leave. They huddle closer friend They need to keep up with their friend and mother. And if someone falls behind and gets lost, he squeaks, as if whistling, pitifully: “Oh, wait!” And the mother runs back, looking for where he is, the straggler. He finds it with his nose and urges with his nose: “Don’t lag behind!”

She teaches her children where to look for snails, what bugs they can eat, and which ones it’s better not to touch for now. Without her permission, the hedgehogs do not put anything in their mouths. He spends a month and a half teaching the prickly company the wisdom of life. And then the hedgehogs will grow up and run away in all directions. Next summer they will have children themselves.

Enemies

The hedgehog, fenced off from everyone by a thorny barrier, is not afraid of many enemies. However, there were those who broke through his defenses without difficulty. The eagle owl is the most dangerous. And other birds of prey long claws and with the horny armor on their paws (large owls and hawks), having crushed the spines, they pierce the hedgehog with their weapon, insensitive to injections. Everything is clear here.

But how the fox manages to hedgehogs is, perhaps, still a mystery. She, they say, rolls him into a ball, curled up, into the water, and there, willy-nilly, he has to turn around - then the red-haired prickly one grabs him by the muzzle.

They also say this: in order to unwrap the needle ball, the fox sprays it with, excuse me, his urine. Whether this is true or not, scientists have not yet checked.

Hedgehogs are smart

But something else has been verified: hedgehogs, whom unkind rumors portray as rather stupid creatures, behave very smartly in experiments. They easily learn different things. For example, on the command “turn around”, “curl up”, they do what is ordered. Like monkeys, they know how to grab the tip of a stick with their teeth and pull it all through the bars into their cage, unless, of course, there is a treat tied to the other end that is unattainable due to the distance and the bars - say, a cockchafer.

They can be taught to open one of many similar doors with their nose (nose and paws), but precisely the one behind which, the hedgehog knows from experience, a treat is hidden. He learns to open the door not only, say, the one on the far right or left, or the third one from the edge, but even one that is painted differently, in the color on which he was trained.

Hedgehogs are not colorblind!

Why nature, by giving away eyes, offended animals so much, sparing monkeys and humans, is not clear. But it turns out that an exception is also made for the hedgehog: the play of colors for him is not a gray range of different tones. Maybe the future will show that other animals are not absolute color blind, maybe the experiments that proved their color blindness were not perfect enough?

Strange habits

But let’s return to the prickly ones, who live not in laboratories, but with us side by side, about whom we, it turns out, know so little. There is another mysterious oddity in the habits of hedgehogs: when they encounter an object with a pungent odor, say, the spine of a book that smells of glue and printing ink, the hedgehog sniffs it and then licks it for a long time. Having licked, he turns his head back and, as far as he can reach, licks the needles, leaving films of foamy saliva on them.

For this incomprehensible purpose, hedgehogs are seduced by soap, glue, cigarettes, cotton wool with valerian or perfume, some flowers, newsprint, toads (!) or, when all this is not available, the wool of other hedgehogs!

What is the point of such manipulations? There is, however, an unproven guess: maybe the hedgehog wants to drown out its own smell, a rather pungent smell, with an odorous fragrance, so that its enemies won’t find it? But he has almost no enemies who are armed with a strong sense of smell. Foxes, if only. Antiseptics and disinfection are perhaps the more likely targets of this mysterious hedgehog habit.

What is the benefit of a hedgehog to a person?

What is the benefit of a hedgehog to a person? is a question that is often asked about any animal that is not obviously furry or notoriously tasty.

The hedgehog has no significance either in the fur trade or in the gastronomic industry; it is not valued at all. True, some Europeans eat hedgehogs by baking them in raw clay. Its needles are used in a small number of preparation techniques for manipulating small objects. The Romans, having stripped the prickly skin from hedgehogs, made various carding devices from it in their cloth factories. And to this day, peasants, having tied the hedgehog’s prickly skin with the needles facing outwards, tie it on the nose of the calf, and in this way wean it from infantile weakness to the cow’s udder. He will climb to suck, prick the udder with needles, the cow will kick him, gore him, in general, he will not let him suck. That's all the benefit of a hedgehog in a peasant farm. It would seem that…

But no, its benefits are more impressive and they are completely different: the protection of gardens and fields. For hedgehogs, satisfying their insatiable appetites, destroy a lot of all kinds of harmful insects and slugs (and snakes, don’t forget!). Although they are unimportant hunters of adult mice, they also kill a lot of mice, ruining their nests.

Unfortunately, birds are also ruined. And they don’t spare tiny bunnies, and frogs, toads and lizards. So some hedgehogs cause harm in human forestry and field farming. But compared to the benefits, it is not great. Therefore, take care of hedgehogs!

Among other things, you won’t get bored with them: there are so many interesting mysteries hidden behind the needles!

The whole truth about hedgehogs!

Let's talk about pleasant things, about the most pleasant and beautiful things that surround us, let's talk about nature. Many people who go out to relax in nature are certainly drawn back. Fresh air, beautiful nature, wide and endless fields, a complete feeling of freedom. Not like the city, with its bustle, garbage on every corner and dirty air. Probably many of you have seen live hedgehogs at least once in your life in the countryside, in the forest, especially in the autumn; hedgehogs often live near people’s houses. This animal has been known to us since early childhood, from children's books, from fairy tales, from cartoons. But not everything we know about these animals is true... Most of us have a misconception about them.

Hedgehogs carry apples and other fruits, berries and mushrooms on needles

We have known this since early childhood, when in cartoons and various pictures we see how a hedgehog carries various goodies on its needles. Is it true? Hedgehogs are omnivorous animals, but first and foremost they are predators. Their main diet consists of various insects; a hedgehog will not refuse to snack on a mouse or, if you’re lucky, a frog. It can also eat fruits and berries, but this is nothing more than a pleasant addition, because... I repeat, the hedgehog is a predator. But hedgehogs never carry apples, mushrooms, or even insects on their needles. The most that can be seen on a hedgehog's needles is leaves, especially in autumn. It is also believed that a hedgehog can rub against fallen apples; the idea is that while running through the forest, hedgehogs pick up a lot of ticks, which can cause certain problems for hedgehogs. The sour juice of apples partially destroys them.

It is a myth.

Hedgehogs eat apples, mushrooms, berries and various fruits

As mentioned above, hedgehogs are predators. But to portray these animals as predators in cartoons and children's books would be stupid. Because In absolutely all books and fairy tales, the hedgehog is a kind and sympathetic character. Hedgehogs, of course, can eat apples, often domestic hedgehogs, unknowingly, are fed precisely with them, but they are not adapted to such a diet. Those who do this, try to live for yourself, eating only apples, and you will immediately understand.

It is a myth.

Hedgehogs stock up for the winter

Many people believe that the hedgehog is a hardworking animal, preparing for winter, making supplies in a way known to us. But why? And the point here is not that hedgehogs are predators and they won’t be able to dry mice or make dried frogs; many people know that the hedgehog hibernates during the winter! So why should a hedgehog stock up on something that it won’t need anyway, moreover, it will all begin to rot and deteriorate. Hedgehogs do not make any reserves for the winter; they hibernate.

It is a myth

Hedgehogs are easy to tame

Many people believe that hedgehogs are very easy to tame and can become just as much a family pet as a cat or dog. In general, it all depends on 2 things: firstly, if the hedgehog has lived in freedom all his adult life, but such capture will be stressful for him. Secondly, hedgehogs, like our beloved dogs and cats, can be different breeds, the most aggressive are eared hedgehogs living in the south of our country; in some cases they will not curl up into a ball so that you can take them, but will attack. If you meet a hedgehog with offspring, the attack will happen in any case and the breed does not matter. Despite all this, hedgehogs really adapt well in captivity, even the same big-eared ones; after a while he will get used to it and will consider your apartment his home. If the hedgehog was not brought from the forest, but was bought at a pet store, then the chances of a strong friendship and faster adaptation with your pet are much greater. So, if your hedgehog is fed and satisfied, then he will truly be an affectionate pet for the whole family.

This is true.

You can introduce a hedgehog to your summer cottage

Some people (by far all) believe that if you leave various goodies for the hedgehog and don’t give him various problems, for example, dogs on your site, then the hedgehog will settle on your precious acres. In general, all hedgehogs in nature have their own territory, familiar to them, in which they live, hunt and feed. But because Hedgehogs often live near a person’s house, so they often visit them. Indeed, if the hedgehog finds various goodies on your site, for example, leave him a saucer with kefir (not milk) or even fish or meat. Soon the hedgehog will begin to consider your area as its territory and will not leave, it will often visit you, and the hedgehog will summer cottage The animal is very useful, because eats various garden pests and insects. But it is also worth knowing and keeping in mind the fact that hedgehogs can eat chicken eggs and steal chickens from the chicken coop.

This is true.

Hedgehogs are very slow

Few people can imagine a hedgehog running at high speed. He has nothing to do with it, but this does not mean that he is slow. It is better not to race with some breeds of hedgehogs, because... this prickly animal can catch up with you, however, hedgehogs do not have a sense of pursuit, so if you do not pose a danger to its offspring, the hedgehog will not run after you through the entire forest. Meanwhile, hedgehogs can move at speeds of up to 3 meters per second, and given the suddenness, you will not notice it right away. What do you think they catch mice? This is how they hunt; mice, apparently, also believe in this common misconception.

It is a myth.

Every hedgehog has its own home

We also know this from cartoons, and in fact, if many people think that hedgehogs are stockpiling supplies, they must carry all these goodies somewhere, well, not put them on a stump in the forest. Here everything is much more complicated. Firstly, if we consider the architectural and engineering abilities of some types of hedgehogs, then, to put it mildly, they are not very good, but... nothing prevents a hedgehog from occupying someone else’s hole, especially a hare’s. Secondly, the ability of hedgehogs to improve their burrows is much lower than their architectural abilities, while hedgehogs often make themselves something like huts from leaves, where they wait out the daylight hours, after which they go out hunting at night. And here it’s worth adding that a lot depends on the breed, because it is known that Western European hedgehogs They do not dig holes for themselves, unlike long-eared or desert hedgehogs, which both use other people's norms and dig their own, especially females who breed offspring in burrows.

Partially true.

Hedgehogs are nocturnal creatures

A lot depends on the time of year. For example, in frosty weather in early spring or in late autumn, hedgehogs may not leave their shelter even at night. In general, hedgehogs do not sleep all day, they sleep for 3-4 hours, then wake up, if the weather is cloudy, then the hedgehog can go to inspect its possessions in search of food, if it is light outside, the hedgehog will not leave its dark corner. If we pose this question in relation to eared hedgehogs, then they can walk through the forest on a clear day.

Partially true.

Hedgehogs snake fighters

Very few people think so, but there are such opinions. There is nothing special to tell here. If the hedgehog has no other food nearby, which sometimes happens, especially in early spring, then the snake lying nearby will be a good lunch for our hedgehog. It should be added here that hedgehogs do not purposefully hunt for snakes, but since life has forced them... well, hedgehogs will eat grasshoppers or frogs with much greater pleasure.

It is a myth.

Hedgehogs stomp heavily on the floor during night walks around the apartment

Hedgehogs do not like daylight hours and often go hunting at night, although, as we have already said, this is not always true and does not apply to all breeds. But the fact is a fact, everyone who kept hedgehogs at home knows perfectly well how hard hedgehogs stomp, and also puff, hiss and snort, but the way this little animal stomps is something. Sometimes the consequences of a hedgehog’s nightly walks around the apartment can be assessed in the morning; these animals sometimes show interest in the things of their owners, however, as befits any self-respecting pet. If you decide to arrange a punishment cell for your beloved hedgehog for the night, for example, in the toilet, so that he does not stomp and does not interfere with sleep, then be prepared for the fact that the entire roll toilet paper it will lie in pieces on the floor, and you will get the hedgehog sleeping peacefully in the morning between the pipes. Also, some hedgehog owners say that their favorite animals, not afraid of heights, jump from a chair or table, i.e., if somehow your hedgehog climbed onto a chair or bedside table, then he will not look for a rope or curtain to will descend, in the silence of the night you will definitely hear this jump. The hedgehog, of course, is not a cat, but don’t think that climbing up somewhere will be a big problem for him, because... The hedgehog can climb well.

This is true.

Hedgehog quills can be poisonous

Some people, foolishly grabbing a hedgehog, get such a good prick from its needle. Often the injection site begins to turn red, itch and itch. But its needles are not poisonous. And he doesn't know how to shoot them either.

It is a myth.

Foxes, hunting hedgehogs, push them into the water; when they open, the foxes grab them

In general, the method is quite original and everything would be fine, but... imagine how many times the fox will have to roll the hedgehog to the nearest reservoir through the mountains and ravines. It is believed that hedgehogs have a reflex; when they enter water, the needle-shaped lump opens. This would be where the fox would be happy, but... unlike people who saw a hedgehog once in their lives, foxes dealt with them much more times and they, unlike the same people, know that hedgehogs can swim quite well. So such fox football, as a rule, will end in nothing. The fox has a little more chance than just sitting next to the hedgehog and starting to tell him a fairy tale, however, the fact is that foxes hunt hedgehogs, sometimes successfully. But the badger can be considered a real champion in unwrapping hedgehogs; a badger, unlike a fox, does not need to play football with the hedgehog or follow it for hours; the badger will perfectly unwrap any hedgehog with its claws.

The hedgehog is small, gray, prickly... Who doesn’t know a hedgehog? But, judging by the number of the most ridiculous fictions about his lifestyle, no one knows.

From book to book, from postcard to poster, the image of a thrifty hedgehog with a ruddy apple on its back wanders. Who saw this? When?

No one has seen it, but everyone is sure that the hedgehog stores apples and mushrooms for the winter. And since he is not accustomed to carrying provisions in his teeth, he pricks fruits onto thorns. And then for a long time winter evenings gnawing on frozen apples and dried mushrooms in his hole and can’t wait for spring...

I'll open it for you terrible secret: hedgehogs do not need food supplies, because in winter hedgehogs... sleep. They sleep sweetly from November to April, like bears, badgers, frogs and snakes. And in a dream, they slowly consume subcutaneous fat, which is not accumulated from apples. The hedgehog is an insectivorous animal.

Plant foods - boiled potatoes, rice, pears, plums, nuts, seeds and the same notorious apples - are eaten only by those hedgehogs that are kept in captivity. So it’s bondage! In captivity, even staunch vegetarians - gorillas - begin to become interested in fish and meat. In their natural habitat, hedgehogs' diet consists of beetles, worms and snails. Sometimes a hedgehog can diversify its menu with frogs, lizards, bird eggs, mice...

By the way, about mice. It is believed that the hedgehog is an excellent mouse catcher; it is even called the prickly cat. But in fact, mice are not hedgehog food. The hedgehog cannot keep up with these nimble rodents, unless he is lucky enough to find a mouse nest. But hedgehogs are much more attracted to completely different nests - wasps and bees. The hedgehog eats these stinging insects without any fear of bites.

Hedgehogs are generally remarkably resistant to a variety of poisons, including bee poisons. Small doses of sublimate, arsenic, and hydrocyanic acid are not lethal for a hedgehog. And he will even survive a viper’s bite, escaping with a slight illness, if, of course, the viper manages to bite him before he is eaten. However, hedgehogs rarely hunt snakes, preferring to deal with unresponsive earthworms.

Here is another legend about the hedgehog: as if, having met a predator in the forest, the hedgehog can curl up into a ball and roll away from danger. Who saw this? Where? No, a hedgehog can curl up, but it can’t roll away. Its dorsal muscle is designed in such a way that it only pulls a motionless sitting or lying hedgehog into a ball.

As soon as he moves while lying on his back, the muscle loses its elasticity and the hedgehog sprawls on the ground like a rag. A hedgehog usually does not run away from its enemies - foxes, eagle owls, large owls, hawks and, of course, does not roll away. He freezes in place, curled into a prickly ball.

But the hedgehog has other enemies from which thorns do not save. And all because these enemies live directly in hedgehog thorns. These are ticks and fleas. At times they annoy the poor hedgehog so much that he disinfects himself. For example, he finds fallen wild sour apples and rolls in them. This is probably where the legend of the thrifty hedgehog was born.

The craving of hedgehogs for various kinds of sour foods, caustic substances, and objects with a pungent odor has been noticed for a long time. Not a single hedgehog will pass by an oily rag or handkerchief that smells of perfume. There are cases when hedgehogs picked up cigarette butts and stuck them on their quills or tried to “roll” in coffee beans.

By the way, this feature of hedgehogs - literally attracting ticks to themselves - has been around for quite some time now. great success used by epidemiologists.

With the help of hedgehogs, they count ticks in natural foci of encephalitis and tularemia. Epidemiologists even have a special unit of calculation - “every hour”. It shows the number of ticks that one hedgehog collects in one hour of running through an infested forest.

03.06.2012 - 14:16

“The fox knows a lot, the hedgehog knows one thing, but it’s important...” (Archilochus, ancient Greek satirist poet of the 2nd half of the 7th century BC).

Note that the poet Archilochus (this is his real name) never told anyone what hedgehogs know so important.

Exposing Pliny the Elder

In general, many oddities and absurdities have been invented about hedgehogs. And not in some dark Middle Ages or in the era of general computer graphomania, but in the period of antiquity, deeply respected by almost everyone.

For example, Pliny the Elder argued that the hedgehog “gathers food for the winter in the following way: he rides on apples that have fallen to the ground, pricks them on his needles, and takes another one in his mouth - and carries it into the hollow.”

Naive artists, having read the master, immediately rushed to depict hedgehogs hung, like a Christmas tree, with juicy, spherical apples. And we got so carried away that these apples on hedgehog needles have been haunting us all since early childhood (see the “Primer”, where it starts with the letter “Y”, published even before its abolition).

And they still draw, and they also teach their children: here is a hedgehog, they say, in apples - naturalism. And no one will ask an experienced zoologist and hedgehog: “Is this true? What about apples? And if you had thought to ask, you would have learned amazing things...

Firstly, hedgehogs to plant foods are treated with suspicion. Only for the sake of vitamins can they afford to chew some garden berries. But they mainly eat insects, worms, frogs, snakes, lizards, eggs, chicks and mice. Unless, of course, you suddenly come across a dead mouse or manage to accidentally drive it into a corner. Hedgehogs consider it beneath their dignity to run after mice.

Secondly, hedgehogs do not make any reserves for the winter. Late autumn they fall into deep hibernation, having previously blocked their hole on all sides with dry leaves and grass, and reduced their body temperature to 6-6.5 degrees Celsius. They wake up, of course, very hungry, and here they begin to greatly regret that they did not stock up on at least a light snack.

Thirdly, hedgehogs do not climb trees - they are afraid of heights, and therefore cannot live in hollows.

So in this matter, Pliny the Elder is not an authority!

Supreme Councilor

It's funny that for all their secrecy and modesty of existence (or, perhaps, precisely because of these qualities), hedgehogs managed to occupy almost a dominant place in Slavic mythology.

The Slavs have long driven away evil spirits hedgehog amulets; with the help of hedgehogs they treated a variety of diseases; They consulted with these animals on serious matters and even used them to open door locks.

According to Bulgarian legends, the hedgehog is so wise that even the Almighty, in the process of creating the earth, listened to his advice. In any case, it was the hedgehog (if you believe the legends) who showed God how to properly establish the sky above the earth.

Having dealt with the heavenly problems, the hedgehog (according to the Bulgarians) set about saving the Earth. At that time, the Sun god decided to marry the Moon. But it was clear to a no brainer that nothing good could be expected from such an unnatural union. Therefore, when the Sun God went to his beloved, he came across a hedgehog that allegedly happened to be on the way, diligently gnawing on a stone. To the Sun's question: why is he doing this, the hedgehog explained that if the Sun gets married, then many other suns will be born. They will burn everything in the world, and the survivors, since there will be nothing to eat, will have to gnaw on stones. The Sun God seriously thought about the hedgehog's arguments and changed his mind about getting married. Precisely, after such an embarrassment, the fault of which was the hedgehog, the moon constantly hides from the sun.

The wisdom of the hedgehog (based on Bulgarian legends) stems from the fact that it lives in the world for a very long time. He remembers everything that has ever happened before, and all because he knows and knows how to use the properties of a special rejuvenating herb, thanks to which he never ages.

A treasure trove for thieves

Residents of Polesie (middle Dnieper and Desna) also consider the hedgehog to be a knowledgeable herbalist. According to their ancient legends, a hedgehog, in addition to the “herb of youth,” can get the so-called “break-herb” that allows you to open any locks and constipations. To get such an artifact, a person just needs to find a hedgehog nest with cubs and block the entrance with stones. The hedgehog, having discovered that he cannot get into his house, will definitely go and look for a “grass gap” that will help destroy the barrier. And when she brings this magical plant and puts it near the entrance, you can pick it up stealthily and then use it for your own purposes.

But the Bosnians, quite close neighbors of the Bulgarians, doubt the hedgehog’s cooperation with higher powers. After all, according to their beliefs, the hedgehog has an extremely dubious origin. Bosnian legends claim that the devil, sitting on a stump, was combing his skin and, accidentally snatching a tuft of hair, threw it under the stump on the ground. It was this tuft of damn hair that later turned into a hedgehog.

The Slavs attributed to the hedgehog the ability to ward off evil spirits, thanks to the presence of thorns. The Poles, in order to ward off the evil goddesses who kidnap and torture people at night, placed a hedgehog skin on their chests before going to bed.

On the eve of their wedding, Polish brides baked bread in the shape of a hedgehog, and among Russians, a special “hedgehog” roll studded with painted straws served as a talisman for newlyweds on their wedding night.

The Serbs used the hedgehog's face as a means of protection against the evil eye, and the heart was considered a talisman that saved from illness.

In terms of treating diseases, the hedgehog was used not only as a talisman, but also for its intended purpose. Hedgehog lard was considered the best medicine o fever and rheumatism. The same lard was used to lubricate painful fly bites and broken spots on livestock, and hedgehog urine was secretly mixed into the vodka of alcoholics so that they would stop drinking once and for all.

Treating livestock with hedgehogs was also very convenient because a hedgehog was usually always at hand. If this animal settled in a village, then it chose housing not far from a goat or cow stall, because fresh milk is a real delicacy for hedgehogs. There are even legends that hedgehogs can milk cows and goats on their own, although they perform such an act without witnesses. In fact, it is unlikely that a hedgehog is capable of producing milk for itself, but in any case, it will remember the time of milking well, and will be regularly present, waiting for the trickle to spill past the bucket.

However, British farmers for a long time who believed that sneaky hedgehogs milked their cows at night, and regularly organized mass hunts for their prickly neighbors.

Fight to the death

Peasants Slavic origin on the contrary, they considered such a neighbor a “successful acquisition”, they always fed him on occasion and did not kill him unnecessarily. This is because the hedgehog, unlike most other animals, has been and will remain in splendid isolation. Having allocated a fairly substantial plot of two or three hectares for its use, the hedgehog will mercilessly suppress any attempts by its relatives to settle in the neighborhood. In this matter the hedgehog is a terrible egoist. The appearance of a fellow quill in the occupied territory is perceived as a malicious invasion, and hostilities immediately begin. Teeth and needles are used, and this war is waged until the victorious end, until the defeated enemy crawls beyond the border of the territory to stick back his needles torn out with the meat. The hedgehog is more tolerant of females, but only when it concerns procreation.

Having a hedgehog on the farm is also good because this animal is a fierce opponent of snakes. If the paths of a snake and a hedgehog intersect, then a fight cannot be avoided. The hedgehog will snort frantically and begin to quickly run around the enemy, trying to bite the reptile’s tail. The snake will begin to violently rush at the enemy, trying to bite him by the nose or any other open place. But it's not that simple. The reptile's poisonous teeth constantly bump into needles that are threateningly exposed. In the end, exhausted, covered with numerous wounds from needles, the snake loses its last strength and becomes an easy prey. And the winner has no choice but to eat the defeated enemy. A hedgehog will gladly feast on a destroyed enemy, but it rarely eats a snake’s head with poisonous glands, despite the fact that it has very good immunity against poison.

The hedgehog's body is generally very resistant to toxic substances. French naturalist Maurice Cain conducted experiments and found that a hedgehog could withstand a dose of tetanus toxin that could kill several thousand people. Even such strong poisons as arsenic potassium cyanide and prussic acid, although in small doses, the hedgehog tolerates quite calmly.

• 2961 views

Almost every object, phenomenon, state, action, sign, etc. has an opposite. For example, man - woman, run - stand, beautiful - ugly. It is thanks to the ability to choose antonyms for words—words that are opposite in meaning—that a person is able to fully appreciate life. Thereby dividing it into “bad” and “good”.

It is not difficult to judge people, a situation, or a situation according to these criteria. After all, many “pros” and “cons” are visible to the naked eye. Science will help you evaluate what is hidden.

That is why in this article we invite readers to find out the answer to a very serious question. Let's formulate it briefly: who are you - a crazy person or a genius? And in order to understand this, you should read the material presented below to the end. In the meantime, think about this (at first glance, ridiculous) question - what do a hedgehog and milk have in common?

Why is it important for a person to train the brain?

Man is positioned as a rational being. But to really live up to it this status, people need to constantly train their brain. This is precisely why kindergartens, schools, and universities were invented. Their task is to force young people to think, analyze, compare, use logic and find answers to thousands of questions in every way possible. (For example, like the one studied in this article - how are hedgehogs and milk similar.)

Depending on the age of the little person, the tasks become more complex and it becomes more and more difficult to solve them. Therefore, for many schoolchildren and students, such a pastime seems stupid and pointless. They tend to go outside, away from educational institutions, some even rush to get a job as soon as possible.

Only then does complete degradation begin. After all, the brain no longer necessarily works on different tasks; it just needs to perform the same algorithm efficiently. As a result, the actions necessary for work become automatic. And the person no longer thinks about their implementation.

However, if you do not force yourself to solve equations, crosswords, riddles, charades, and also do not perform other brain-training exercises, a person will begin to become dull.

What are riddles

The question of what a hedgehog and milk have in common baffles both children and adults. Only it is aimed at making a person think, reflect, and draw analogies. Therefore, it is important to at least try to solve it without the help of search engines.

After all, it is a riddle - brief, symbolic, conditional description any phenomenon or object, by delving into which you can guess the encrypted word. There may be many possible answers, but only one will be correct.

Accordingly, a guess is the correct answer to a riddle. In this case, what do hedgehogs and milk have in common?

Examples of riddles

There are many riddles for attentiveness, for training logic and intelligence. Here are some of them:

1. Why do skeletons love milk?
2. When is the easiest time for a black cat to get into the house?
3. When is a person a tree?
4. What kind of animal is it that people walk on and cars drive on?
5. The shepherd had nine sheep. When all but five died. How many sheep are left?
6. If two houses caught fire - a rich one and a poor one. Which one will the police start putting out?
7. Seven brothers have one sister. How many sisters do these brothers have?
8. Mother Daria has six daughters: Marta, Mandy, Murka, Miranda, Martisha. Name the sixth girl.
9. If there are ten toes on the feet, then how many toes are there on six feet?

Perhaps these riddles will help “revive” the brain, and readers of the article will easily answer the question “what does a hedgehog and milk have in common”?

Answers

If any questions caused difficulties, below are the correct answers:

1. Milk strengthens bones.
2. When a window or door is open.
3. When a person has just woken up, he is from a dream.
4. Zebra crossing is a black and white pedestrian path.
5. Five sheep left. Because everyone except them died.
6. Both houses will burn down if firefighters don't get to work. Because the police are not putting out fires at home.
7. One. It is the same sister for every brother.
8. Daria is the sixth sister. After all, her mother has six daughters. That is, she is one of them.
9. Thirty. Because there are five toes on one foot.

What does a hedgehog have in common with milk?

So, now let's return to the main question - what are the similarities between a hedgehog and milk. After all, a hedgehog is a prickly animal, and milk is a liquid given by female mammals. Perhaps the whole point is that the hedgehog is a creature that feeds its young with milk? Or is it that hedgehogs even in mature age Do you like to feast on this white liquid?

There can be many versions, but only one answer will be correct. But which one? Quite simple actually. Only very smart and creative people or schizophrenics can guess about it. If the readers of this article think that they have found the correct answer on their own, they are probably also curious to know whether it really is the answer.

So, the mystery is: what do hedgehogs and milk have in common? Correct answer: both the hedgehog and the milk curdle.

Schizophrenic or genius

The article already mentioned earlier that only geniuses and schizophrenics can find something in common between a hedgehog and milk. But, if the answer to the question is correct, how to understand which type to classify yourself as. After all, these people are to some extent antonyms.

On the other hand, both schizophrenics and geniuses, in fact, are people with certain mental disabilities that allow them to perceive the world differently than we do - the so-called normal ones, of whom there is a significant majority. Thus, both of these types have creative or out-of-the-box thinking.

But how can you understand whether you should be afraid for your own mental health or, on the contrary, begin to be proud of yourself, setting yourself new tasks and finding solutions to them? It's actually very simple. It is enough just to analyze how much time it took to find the answer to the question “what does a hedgehog and milk have in common.”

People with mental illness respond quickly, as if they already knew the right answer. Geniuses need time to think, analyze, compare and only then voice the answer.

Salvador Dali or the Mad Hatter

In order to figure out what type a person belongs to, there is a special test in psychology based on the principle of contrasting certain objects with each other. It is carried out when there are suspicions of various mental illness, one of which is schizophrenia.

This test consists of many strange (for “normal” people) questions. The answers to them allow you to find out the state of mental health of the person or patient you are interested in.

Through this test, our readers can determine their type. After all, one question is not enough to study yourself. Therefore, having studied the principle of the test, thanks to the question of what a hedgehog and milk have in common, you can move on to introspection.

Test for schizophrenia and genius

In fact, it is much longer, but we will look at some of the more fun questions. So what might this have in common:

• pencil and shoe;
• racing car and tornado;
• teapot and steamer.

Correct answers

Having found out what connects a hedgehog and milk, some of our readers might fear for their health or, conversely, imagine themselves as someone like Walter O'Brien, a modern Irish businessman who gained popularity due to the fact that he hacked NASA when he was only thirteen years old. This is also the story of the series based on Walter’s life, Scorpio.

Such a child immediately attracted the attention of many media outlets. And it was they who, after some time, found out that Walter was not an ordinary schoolboy, he was a genius. After all, his IQ level is 197 points. Although the average person’s score is approximately 100-120 points. But O'Brien's score is not the limit. Terence Tao, a mathematician from Australia, has an IQ of 230 points. He is the most man of genius planets.

So, the correct answers to the test for schizophrenia and genius:

1. Both the shoe and the pencil leave a mark.
2. Both the racing car and the tornado move in a circle.
3. Both the kettle and the steamer release steam.

If correct answers were given without long thoughts, instantly, which means the person being tested is a schizophrenic. If it took a while, genius.

However, this test is for entertainment purposes only, so its results should not upset or upset the test takers. After all, a correct interpretation of a person’s mental health is not an easy task; it must be done exclusively by a competent person - a highly qualified psychiatrist. In addition, using only one research method it is impossible to create a complete picture; a comprehensive examination is important.

Thus, if readers of this article were unable to find the answer or answered too quickly to the question “what do hedgehogs and milk have in common” (the answer for comparison was presented earlier), they should not worry.