Have you ever wondered what we know about forest inhabitants? Since childhood, we all enjoyed watching cartoons, where a cute bunny often got into trouble, and an angry wolf was his worst enemy. Quite often in children's cartoons you can find a character that everyone loves - a hedgehog, who painstakingly drags a delicious apple on his thorns, but this often ends our knowledge about the lifestyle of this prickly animal. So let's plunge together with you into the world of forest animals, so that to the question of our child: "How is the hedgehog preparing for winter?" - with dignity to tell him what this small ball of needles is.
Appearance
This is a small mammal animal, which has a total body length of about 20-30 cm. We never see a tail in photographs with hedgehogs or just drawings, but he has it, just very small - only 3 cm.
The hedgehog has a weight of only 700-800 grams, and relatively small ears, which most often do not reach 3.5 cm. The upper jaw of the animal has about 20 sharp, but small teeth, but on the bottom there are slightly fewer teeth — only 16. The muzzle is slightly elongated, one might say, wedge-shaped. The paws are equipped with five fingers on which there are sharp claws. Young individuals of hedgehogs have about 3 thousand needles, and adults up to 5-6 thousand, the surface of these needles is smooth, and the color is characterized by the alternation of light and brownish belts. Inside, the needles are hollow and filled with air, on the head, sides and back reach 2 cm in length and grow quite quickly, like the hair located among the needles. They are rare and thin, but long enough, and on the belly of the animal are dark in color.
Habitat
Hedgehog can be found in a wide variety of places, often its favorite habitat is the edge of the forest, bushes, clearings ... Also, hedgehogs often "settle" next to people's dwellings. This common animal can live in Central and Western Europe, in the south of Scandinavia, Western Siberia, as well as in Spain and Kazakhstan. In general, hedgehogs avoid continuous coniferous massifs and vast swamps, the rest of the places in which trees grow, even if it is a park mastered by man, are quite a place they love. Hedgehogs get along well with a person, and are even his assistant in the fight against various kinds of rodents, snails and other not very pleasant "neighbors".
Breeding
Before you talk about what the hedgehog does in the winter, you need to have an idea of what lifestyle he leads and how he mates and reproduces. The process of finding a partner for breeding begins after hibernation, when in the forest hedgehogs can find enough food. Males fight among themselves for the female and actively chase after her. With the onset of pregnancy, hedgehogs prepare a safe haven for themselves and future offspring. They cover this place with moss, leaves, dry grass and carefully mask it. In the litter, the female usually has 3-5 hedgehogs that are born with closed eyes and ears, and instead of needles they have only soft rudiments. After 2 weeks, the needles are formed in the young offspring, and by the end of the second month of life they leave their den forever, leaving their mother - such is hedgehog. Where each of them lives in winter is not yet clear, because hedgehogs are lonely and fight fiercely and guard their territory, therefore they disperse in different directions.
The neighborhood of people and the hedgehog
This prickly animal has long become a good-natured and harmless neighbor for a person. Those who live in their homes are well aware that the hedgehog gladly destroys harmful insects, caterpillars and even rodents. Sometimes desperate people do not know how to deal with these pests, and, learning about the habits of hedgehogs from friends or from other sources, decide to get this animal. In the shortest time, no pest will remain in the territory where the hedgehog settles. Therefore, if we talk about what the hedgehog does in the winter, we can safely assume that he is resting. However, the animal also has, so to speak, bad "habits": it destroys the eggs and offspring of birds that nest on the ground. In addition, it is a carrier of diseases such as yellow fever, rabies, dermatomycosis, salmonellosis, etc. The hedgehog can bring ticks, fleas, and other rather unpleasant and even dangerous insects in its spines. With his needles, he picks ticks from the grass with a brush, and is unable to get rid of them on his own.
Hedgehog behavior
How is the hedgehog getting ready for winter? This question is of interest to many animal lovers, and even more so to those who started a hedgehog in their house. The fact is that the behavior of any animal in captivity and in its natural habitat is often different, so we will consider these two options separately.
In general, depending on the climatic conditions of the hedgehog, it can be assumed that the active period of his life takes from four to seven months. This period of time, in turn, can be conditionally divided into awakening, reproductive period and preparation for hibernation.
Hibernation
If the hedgehog lives in its usual habitat, then during the warm season it actively accumulates a reserve of fat, because we know that the hedgehog hibernates in the winter, and in order to survive the cold season, you need to have enough strength. With the onset of cold weather, the food that hedgehogs usually eat disappears, bugs and rodents are quite rare, caterpillars disappear, and night life seems to freeze. The prickly animal is also trying to rebuild its life routine in a new way.
How does hedgehog prepare for winter and what is hibernation? This is primarily a specific species adaptation of animals, while representatives of the species perceive unfavorable living conditions differently, so they can also hibernate for various reasons. For hedgehogs, the main reason for hibernation is, first of all, the absence of basic feed, and the ambient temperature is already in second place. If you compare the hedgehog with other animals, then, for example, gerbils and chipmunks can make a supply of their plant food, but it is simply impossible to make a supply of insects, so in the warm season the hedgehog actively accumulates fat. However, the winter stupor of hedgehogs can also be associated with its imperfect thermoregulation.
Hibernation in captivity
Despite the fact that for the hedgehog in captivity, all conditions for life are created, and he does not need a supply of food, since he has free access to it, these animals, nevertheless, can hibernate, although the temperature is not goes down. By the way, biologists studied the question of how the hedgehog prepares for winter, and came to the curious conclusion that the activity of the animal is affected by light, which is a synchronizer of seasonal activity.
Some owners of hedgehogs at home are worried about how to determine that their pet has hibernated. Experts recommend bringing a mirror to the nose of the animal and observing for signs of breathing. Indeed, looking at a hedgehog in hibernation, it is difficult to understand whether he is alive or not, because he has a kind of numbness. The hedgehog is half folded into a glomerulus, its body temperature during hibernation is only 1.8 degrees, it is difficult to recognize the animal alive with such signs. Nevertheless, those who started a hedgehog at home should know how the hedgehog is preparing for winter, what are the signs of his hibernation and how to properly get him out of this state.
The Hedgehog Myth
It is curious and a little even sad to find out that our idea of a hedgehog carrying an apple or a mushroom on its needles is fundamentally wrong. These little animals never prick food on needles; they can maximum transfer the leaves for their mink in this way.
Now you have learned a lot of interesting things about hedgehogs, but even if you meet this animal in the forest or near the house and bring it home, remember that you have a great responsibility for the life of this small and defenseless animal. But do not forget that the hedgehog sleeps in winter, so if you see that the animal weighs very little, it means that it has not gained enough fat reserves before entering the state of suspended animation, and it is very likely that your prickly neighbor can Do not survive the cold in the wild.