What can you tell your child about hedgehogs. Myths and interesting facts about hedgehogs Interesting facts from the life of a hedgehog

05.03.2021

The ancestors of hedgehogs, gymnurs, did not have a needle shell and were more like rats than modern hedgehogs. They descended from tenrecs, which in the Paleocene (about 60 million years ago) inhabited a significant part of the land, and now are found only in Madagascar. The first hedgehogs differed from tenrecs in the structure of their jaws: their teeth had not one, but two tops (in the shape of the letter W).

This gave hedgehogs an evolutionary advantage: they were able to eat roughage and insects. Gradually, the gymnurs replaced the tenpeks and spread across all continents.

However, with the advent of spiny urchins, the range of gymnurs has drastically declined and is today limited to small areas in Southeast Asia. When the thorny shell appeared at the gymnurs, zoologists do not know exactly. Maybe this happened due to a sharp warming of the climate and the hair on the back gradually turned into thorns.

The eared hedgehog on the territory of Russia is found in the Volga steppes and the lower reaches of the Don, the Ciscaucasia, the Northern Caspian, the steppes of the south of Western Siberia and Tuva; listed in the Red Books of Bashkortostan, the Urals, Saratov and Chelyabinsk regions.

BENEFITS AND HARM OF NEEDLE

The eared hedgehog is the smallest representative of the hedgehog family, but, as the name implies, the most lop-eared. Its large ears (so large that, if they are bent forward, they close their eyes) play an important role - they protect the animal from overheating.

On the head of the eared hedgehog there is no "longitudinal parting", as in other types of hedgehogs. Under the skin, which is covered with a spiny shell, there are circular and longitudinal muscles, with the help of which the hedgehog curls up into a prickly ball, but eared hedgehogs are reluctant to do this (probably they are afraid to accidentally pierce their large and beautiful ears), and in danger they run away, hissing and bouncing .

Eared hedgehogs have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, but poor eyesight. Although it is believed that they can distinguish colors, like humans, unlike other mammals, which have black and white vision. The hedgehog has 36 teeth, which fall out with age.

The respiratory rate of an animal during wakefulness is 40-50 breaths per minute, and during hibernation - 6-8. The temperature in active life is 34 ° C, and during hibernation - only 2 ° C to save vitality.

Hedgehog in the reserve

Small, eared, pretty, with high paws, the hedgehog is always in a hurry somewhere. However, this hermit from the order of insectivores is not often seen in the reserve.

The hedgehog escapes from the heat by leading a nocturnal lifestyle, but his unique ability for a long time to do without food and water one has only to be surprised. The eared hedgehog avoids places with sparse and quickly fading vegetation, its main habitats in the reserve are the forest plantations of the Green Garden, gardens in the Surikov gully, thickets of Kordon. All hedgehogs are nocturnal animals, they can walk up to 10 km per night in search of food (during the day they sleep in a mink, curled up in a ball). Hedgehogs communicate with each other with a whistle, and snort and grumble only when they are angry.

SPIRITE LOVE

Eared hedgehogs lead a solitary lifestyle, and only when the sun warms in late March - early April, excited males begin to look for females. In females, puberty occurs at about one year of age, in males usually at two years. Only males go in search of a couple, for this they can walk 6-8 km, and a hedgehog does not need to go on a dangerous path - they will find it anyway. However, if the female does not like the boyfriend, then games between males begin, the so-called hedgehog round dance: rivals bite each other, prick with needles, push, snorting and sniffing loudly. Games continue until the most stubborn participant is identified. Spines do not interfere with mating: the female lies on the ground, stretching her hind legs, and the male is attached behind, standing almost vertically.

EZHATA

After mating, the female immediately drives the male away, now each of them will go about their business: the male will actively fatten up fat for the winter, and the female will prepare a brood hole, lining it with dry foliage.

After 40-45 days, the hedgehog will have 2-8 light-colored, blind and deaf babies, very tiny - newborns weigh about 20 grams. The first days mother-hedgehog warms the cubs with her warmth, as they are completely naked. Within a few hours after the birth of the hedgehog, they acquire white soft needles, and after two days they begin to form dark dense needles. Babies develop very quickly: after about a week, their eyes and ear canals open, and after two hedgehogs are already completely covered with their protective shell. A month later, the cubs come out of the hole with their mother, learning new sounds and smells. Hedgehogs start eating insects from the second month of life, after which the hedgehog mother stops feeding her offspring with milk. Soon, the babies will have to start a harsh adult life and themselves seek shelter for their first winter. By this time, they should stock up on enough nutrients to last from October to April.

NEUTRAL HEDGEHOG

Hedgehogs either dig holes themselves, or, thanks to their small size, use strangers, such as rodents, slightly expanding them for themselves.

Hedgehog shelters differ from the dwellings of other animals by a wide and low entrance, where, after a steep descent, there is a lateral recess of the nesting chamber. For the winter, the hedgehog insulates its shelter with leaves and grass, as it does not tolerate cold, and during hibernation it tries to lie down early, and first tightly closes the entrance to the hole. During hibernation, he does not eat anything, practically does not move and falls into suspended animation: his body temperature drops sharply, breathing slows down. The long-eared hedgehog never forages in a winter dwelling, so the common opinion about hedgehog thriftiness is nothing more than a fairy tale. Probably, when a hedgehog wakes up thin in the spring, staggering from hunger, he regrets that he does not stock up.

NUTRITION OF THE EARED HEDGEON

The main delicacy of eared hedgehogs is small vertebrates, beetles, ants, caterpillars, spiders and bird eggs. The hedgehog can overpower the viper, because it has a unique resistance to various toxins. Vegetable food in the diet is extremely rare.

Sandy Slow

This beetle from the dark beetle family lives for 2-3 years, wintering in the fields among plant residues and in the upper soil layer. Beetle larvae feed on rotting plant debris and, even with a large number, almost do not harm living plants. But young beetles, appearing in spring or early summer, are very dangerous for seedlings of cereals and vegetable crops. Sometimes for 1 sq. meter is collected from several tens to hundreds of beetles.

June Khrushchev

Another name for the beetle is nekhrushch. It appears in June - early July. During the day, the Khrushchev hide on the ground, and in the evening they fly around the trees, sit down, eat their leaves and young shoots, or go to feast on the color of cereals. The larvae spend their time burrowing 10-12 centimeters into loamy or sandy soil. They eat the roots of various plants, especially cereals, and sometimes each other.

Reaper Ant

Of the 110 species of this genus of ants, 5 live in Russia. They live in areas with an arid climate, build nests in the soil up to several meters deep and feed on grain. Ants store it in special chambers and, if necessary, take it out to dry. In a family of 5,000 individuals, soldier ants with large heads have a special duty - they play the role of cooks: they grind the grain with their mandibles, turning it into a pasty mass, which the disgraced ones eat. Worker ants have a sting (a modified ovipositor) at the end of the abdomen - a weapon of defense and attack.

ENEMIES OF THE EARED HEDGEON

fox

A large predator from the canine family. It feeds mainly on mouse-like rodents, less often on hares, birds, insects, and carrion. The fox rolls the hedgehog into the water, forcing him to straighten out, and then grabs him by the muzzle. If there is no reservoir nearby, then it simply douses the animal with urine (hedgehogs always turn around from an alien smell).

Badger

Predator from the weasel family. The badger has such a keen sense of smell that it finds mouse nests, worms, insects, larvae of the Maybugs, which it especially loves, at a depth of up to 10 cm underground. The badger is one of the few animals that hedgehogs cannot resist: strong paws with long claws do not give a chance for salvation.

Sometimes it turns out that people harm wild animals without even knowing it. For example, when McDonald's introduced a new ice cream package, hardly anyone suspected the danger hedgehogs were in. The prickly sweet tooth found the discarded cups and stuck their heads inside to lick off the remnants of the treat. And they fell into a trap - the head did not crawl back! A plethora of recorded deaths and protests from animal rights activists led McDonald's to reduce the diameter of the hole in the cup in 200B.

It is interesting that hedgehogs get acquainted with unfamiliar smells: they begin to frantically lick something until foamy saliva appears, which the animals apply to the needles. In case of danger, hedgehogs often defecate into a ball and begin to roll in their own feces. Hedgehogs can smear their needles with toad venom and thus their spines also become poisonous.

BRIEF CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARED HEDGEON

Class: mammals.

Order: insectivores.

Family: hedgehogs.

Genus: eared hedgehogs.

Species: eared hedgehog.

Latin name:

Hemiechinus auritus.

Size: body - 12-27 cm, tail - 1-5 cm, ears - 3-5 cm.

Weight: 250-500 g.

Coloration: on the back from light straw to dark brown, the hairline on the belly is light.

Long-eared hedgehog lifespan: 5-8 years.

Sotnikova Valentina Nikolaevna - teacher-speech therapist MADOU "Center for Child Development - Kindergarten No. 33 "Rainbow" of the city of Gubkin, Belgorod Region.
The material is recommended for parents of older preschoolers.

What can you tell your child about hedgehogs

The hedgehog is a wild animal that lives in our forests. The muzzle of the hedgehog is small, with an elongated nose, all covered with short gray hairs. Black, like beads, eyes seem attentive and intelligent, but the hedgehog sees badly, but he has a wonderful scent! The paws of the hedgehog are short with small claws. The hedgehog wears prickly needles on its back. But what about him without needles? After all, they save him from enemies. The hedgehog will curl up into a prickly ball, bristle its sharp needles - try it, eat it.
The hedgehog is a predator. It feeds on worms, beetles, catches lizards, poisonous snakes, mice, frogs.
Near the old stump, the hedgehog arranges a mink for himself and covers it with dry fallen leaves. The hedgehog prepares the litter in its own way. He rolls head over heels on the grass and pins leaves on his needles. The hedgehog does not stock up for the winter. When the cold comes, he will climb into his warm cozy house and sleep soundly until spring. Fluffy snow will cover a hedgehog mink, no one will find it under the snow and will not disturb sleep.
When the warm, spring sun warms, streams run and the snow melts, the hedgehog comes out of the hole. In the spring, hedgehogs appear in the hedgehog hole, they are born with their eyes and ears closed. There are no needles on hedgehogs at first, they appear an hour and a half after birth - white, soft. The hedgehog mother loves her children very much, feeds them with milk, feeling the first signs of danger, drags them to another place. When the kids grow up, the eyes and ears will open, and the needles will darken and become hard, the hedgehogs come out of the hole. They run after the mother hedgehog, snorting funny and tapping their claws. Hedgehog and hedgehog are taught to look for food for hedgehogs, to catch bugs, mollusks, mice.
During the day, hedgehogs sleep in a hole under an old stump, and at night they go hunting.
Hedgehogs quickly get used to people, drink milk from a saucer, and catch mice no worse than cats.
Have your child answer the following questions:
1. - Describe appearance hedgehog.
2. - Name the hedgehog family: hedgehog - hedgehog - hedgehog
3. - Where does the hedgehog sleep? - In a mink under a stump.
4. - What do hedgehogs eat? - worms, mice, snakes, frogs, beetles.
5. - How does a hedgehog prepare for winter? - Near the old stump, the hedgehog looks after himself a mink and covers it with dry leaves. The hedgehog does not stock up for the winter. He sleeps all winter until spring.
Learn riddles:
1) Like a Christmas tree
All in needles
2) Nose like a pig
Yes pegs of bristles
3) We need sewing needles
And who needs needles to live?
Learn with your child a poem by P. Voronko "Sly hedgehog"
Cunning eccentric hedgehog
Sewed a prickly jacket:
Hundred pins on the chest
One hundred needles behind.
A hedgehog walks in the forest on the grass,
Sticks to pins
Pear, plum - every fruit,
What will find under the tree
And with a rich gift
Returns to hedgehogs

Smart, cunning and very smart hedgehogs perhaps the best adapted to survival in the forests of the middle zone. Omnivorousness, and reliable protection from prickly needles, and developed intelligence play into their hands. Moreover, cute and cute hedgehogs, who sniff and snort so funny, are also great hunters. They eat by no means only mushrooms and berries, and willingly include in their diet any living creature that they can overcome.

Facts about hedgehogs

In total, there are 24 species of these animals in the world.
The hedgehogs we are used to seem tailless, although in fact they have a tail, just very short. And in some species of so-called rat hedgehogs, the length of the tail can exceed 20 centimeters.
Both on the front and on the hind legs they have 5 fingers. An interesting fact: the white-bellied hedgehog is distinguished by the fact that it has only 4 fingers on its hind legs.
Depending on the species, hedgehogs have from 4 to 10 nipples on their bodies.
They have more teeth in the upper jaw than in the lower - 20 versus 16.
The prickly and rather strong needles of hedgehogs are actually hollow inside, there is nothing but air ().
As they grow older, the number of spines on the hedgehog's body increases. A young individual has about 3000 of them, sometimes a little more, and in an adult this number reaches 6000.
A hedgehog's nose always remains wet if the animal is healthy. Much like cats.
Hedgehog needles grow at about the same rate as our hair grows.
Between the needles, hedgehogs also have ordinary hair, but you can only notice them upon close inspection, because they are thin and very rare.
The first hedgehogs appeared on Earth a very long time ago, more than 20 million years ago.
Russian common hedgehogs in winter they hibernate, so in autumn they eat off. As scientists have established, thin hedgehogs who have not gained at least 0.5 kg of weight usually do not survive the winter.
Hedgehogs have poor eyesight, but they compensate for this shortcoming with the help of acute hearing and excellent sense of smell ().
Despite the seeming clumsiness, they are able to run very fast, overcoming up to 3 meters in a second.
Hedgehogs often prey on snakes, including poisonous ones. Poison is dangerous for them, but to a lesser extent than for other mammals.
European hedgehogs are good swimmers, but their African counterparts are not, so they always drown if they manage to fall into a body of water.

Inhabitants country houses sometimes they give hedgehogs a treat in the form of a saucer of milk. This should not be done, because these animals can only digest milk in childhood. Adult hedgehogs also drink it, but then they get sick.
Foxes sometimes prey on hedgehogs. They are unable to turn the animal curled up into a prickly ball, but they roll them into the water, where they have to straighten up ().
Hedgehogs never carry mushrooms with berries on their backs, as in pictures in children's books.
Hedgehog needles are made up mostly of keratin, just like hair.
Hedgehogs change needles about once every three years, but, of course, not all at once, but as they grow.
They thoroughly prepare for the winter, warming their homes, and so high-quality that even in 20-degree frost the temperature inside remains above 0 degrees.
On average, an adult hedgehog travels about 2 kilometers per day in search of food.
Unlike many other animals that also hibernate for the winter, hedgehogs do not dig holes. They make their home in the voids under the roots and stones.
When the air temperature drops to +6, they begin to fall asleep against their will - the body goes into hibernation. If this happens when the hedgehog has not yet arranged a home for itself, it will most likely fall asleep right on the spot, and if the temperature drops below 0, it will freeze to death.
Their cubs are raised only by females. Males do not take part in this process.
Newborn hedgehogs are born with soft needles, which are also under the skin. But already an hour after the birth, they begin to straighten and harden.
On average, one hedgehog in a thousand is an albino.
In captivity, these animals can live up to 9-10 years, but in nature they usually live half as much.
In summer, when it is warm, the hedgehog's heart beats up to 180 beats per minute, and in winter, when the animal hibernates, the heart rate slows down to 20-50 beats per minute.
Some poisons, such as arsenic and hydrocyanic acid, are almost harmless to hedgehogs in the doses in which they are capable of killing a person.
AT Ancient Rome hedgehogs were specially bred for culinary purposes.
During hibernation, the temperature of the hedgehog's body drops to about +2 degrees.

prickly neighbor

With every minute, the disk of the red setting sun sank lower and lower. Evening dew has already appeared on the young green grass. We lay low on the ground, testing each other's patience. It was getting cold, dusk was approaching, time was running out. However, the hedgehog, curled up in an impregnable prickly ball a couple of meters from me, also had a lot to hurry: it was the turn of the evening hunt.

First, a nose appeared from under the needles.

Wow, wow! - the hedgehog grunted displeasedly, realizing that I had not gone anywhere.

Ffk! I snorted softly out of curiosity.

The hedgehog did not answer, but he was not afraid either. Finally, eyes appeared - very tiny black buttons, unimportant helpers in search of food. A sensitive sense of smell and hearing is what the nocturnal beast primarily counts on. The click of the camera shutter - and the hedgehog immediately curled up into a ball.

... I accidentally stumbled upon a hedgehog in a hollow near a stream. It was quite dark there, and I had to take the spiky ball out onto the lawn to take a picture in the rays of the setting sun. True, the hedgehog did not want to participate in the photo shoot at all. Only after a few minutes did he turn around again. This time, I did not immediately “fire from all the guns”, but waited until the hedgehog calmed down a bit. The tactic helped: I managed to get a few shots. When I finished filming, I carried the hedgehog back to the ditch. It must be his home after all.

In general, hedgehogs do not like to go out for feeding before dusk, but in April-May they are forced to start hunting partly and during daylight hours in order to gain strength after hibernation. Among other mammals, the hedgehog can “boast” of the ability to endure hibernation in a deep stupor, when the body temperature drops from 33.7 to 1.8 ° C, the pulse rate decreases from 180 to 20-60 beats per minute and only one breath per minute occurs! In such an energy-saving mode, the animal can live up to 240 days, while in the state of wakefulness and ten days of hunger strike can lead to death. Stored fat is consumed during sleep, it is also used to warm the body upon awakening. After a long winter hibernation, the hedgehog loses a fifth of its own weight.

Hedgehogs are tireless nocturnal hunters and gatherers. They eat all kinds of beetles, their larvae, slugs, worms and other invertebrates. More nimble animals are hunted less often: mice, dormant reptiles and amphibians are caught on occasion. They will not disdain eggs or chicks if they stumble upon a bird's nest on the ground. Reliable protection - needles - partly determines the fearless nature of hedgehogs. Maybe that's why they easily endure the neighborhood with a person and are found near housing more often than in completely wild places. But the main factor is, of course, the availability of food.

As soon as the animals are strong enough after hibernation, they begin the breeding season, the timing of which is difficult to determine, since small hedgehogs can be found throughout the warm period of the year. During mating games, males chase away rivals. Seven weeks after mating, the female arranges a well-camouflaged nest, and three to seven blind, helpless naked hedgehogs are born in it with soft rudiments of needles that begin to emerge only a few hours after birth. Inside the needles are hollow, filled with air, so wearing such a “body armor” is not difficult. Each needle has a special muscle that can raise and lower it.

A newborn baby weighs only 12-14 grams, and is comparable in size to a box of matches. On mother's milk, hedgehogs develop rapidly. And after two months they become completely independent. The life expectancy of these animals is about six years.

Hedgehogs are often taken into the house without thinking about how much trouble this nocturnal animal can bring. His habit of unceremoniously stomping in the dark is unlikely to please the household. If you feed the hedgehog during the day, then gradually the animal will partially rebuild diurnal regime. But this will not save the things left on the floor - the hedgehog will build his lair out of them. Keeping these animals in captivity is the prerogative of special nurseries. Inexperienced nature lovers should be content with watching hedgehogs in their natural habitat.

This summer I had another meeting with a hedgehog. He began to regularly visit the porch of our rural house, where we leave food for the wild cat. It usually appeared at thick twilight, when it became quiet in the yard. Drank milk, ate buckwheat porridge, gave special preference to chicken bones. But sour antonov apples as if he didn't notice. In bright light, he continued to eat calmly. But as soon as the animal heard some suspicious noise, he immediately became alert and, if the noise did not stop, went into the raspberry thickets, where he hid under an old box.

Once I managed to find a daytime hedgehog bed in an oak plantation. The beast made a lair for itself from a pile of last year's leaves in the undergrowth of thorns. And the enemies - dogs, foxes, ferrets, badgers, large owls - were not afraid of him.

In general, this year turned out to be some kind of hedgehog, apparently, there was plenty of food in the forest. Some May Khrushchev - eat - I do not want! This means that in the future there will be someone to put things in order among the slugs, beetles and other plant pests that roam at night.

According to legend, the hedgehog owes its origin to the devil. Here is how it was. The devil, sitting on a stump, put his skin in order - combed it. He threw his hair to the ground. It was from these hairs that the hedgehog appeared.

In the myths of the Bulgarians, the hedgehog is a sage and a long-liver, never aging, as he uses rejuvenating grass.
According to Serbs, the muzzle of a hedgehog is a talisman against the evil eye, the heart is a talisman against diseases, and urine is an anti-alcohol remedy.
In the ancient period, the skins of hedgehogs were dried by stretching them on boards. They made excellent combs for sheep wool.
Since ancient times, hedgehogs have been eaten: baked in clay to get rid of thorns. And the gypsies preferred fried hedgehogs. It was their national dish.

Hedgehogs, as a species, have been around for 15 million years. 17 varieties of hedgehogs are known. They live in a variety of habitats, from forests to deserts. The hedgehog's body is covered with 7,000 to 10,000 spines. The spines of the hedgehog are constantly updated, the old ones fall out, and new ones grow to replace them. It is noted that only one of the three needles changes in a year. The needle grows for a long time - more than a year.
Hedgehogs are born naked. Only on the second or third day after birth, their body begins to become covered with needles.

It is interesting that hedgehogs get acquainted with new smells. First, the animals taste the object - lick it. At the same time, fragrant saliva appears in the hedgehog's mouth. But the acquaintance does not end there. Now needles are used - hedgehogs rub against an object with an unfamiliar smell. This behavior of hedgehogs was noticed when they got acquainted with cigarettes - hedgehogs pricked cigarette butts on their needles. They did not pass by handkerchiefs exhaling the smell of perfume, they showed interest in coffee beans. Scientists still don't know why they do it.

Hedgehogs are nocturnal and hibernate from November to March. They hibernate for the winter for 128 days. At this time, hedgehogs are cold-blooded animals, because. body temperature - only 2 degrees. The normal body temperature is 34 degrees (during wakefulness).
The breathing frequency of hedgehogs during hibernation and wakefulness is different: in hibernation it is 6-8 times per minute, and during wakefulness - 40-50 times.

During hibernation, a lot of weight is lost, so after waking up, the first thing they go for food.

At the moment of serious danger, hedgehogs not only defecate, but also fall out in their feces. Obviously, this behavior of animals is their way of protection.

Most hedgehogs have tails. They are short (about 3 centimeters) and hidden under the needles, so the tail is not visible from afar.

Hedgehogs are immune to poisons that are fatal to humans (arsenic, potassium cyanide, hydrocyanic acid and similar substances).

Hedgehogs have 36 teeth that tend to fall out with age.

Hedgehogs are easily tamed. They get along great with cats and dogs. But there is one minus - at night they stomp loudly.

Hedgehogs love milk. Because of this, they often settle near farms in the expectation that the milk will spill and they will lick it.

Hedgehogs communicate with the help of a whistle, and when they are angry, they grumble in a funny way. Also, in search of food, they grumble loudly and rustle with foliage.

Hedgehogs have not very good eyesight, but excellent sense of smell and hearing. It is believed that hedgehogs distinguish colors.

We have all seen drawings in which a hedgehog carries apples and mushrooms on thorns. But in reality, hedgehogs physically cannot curl up so as to fasten these things on thorns.

Hedgehogs love milk. Therefore, they prefer to settle near farms. They remember the time of milking, appear at this time on the farm, hide in anticipation of spilled milk on the floor.

It is not true that hedgehogs catch mice. A hedgehog will never chase a mouse. It is also not true that they hunt vipers, although hedgehogs do, on occasion, eat them. But hedgehogs actually love milk very much. Some of them specifically settle near farms. The hedgehog knows perfectly well the time of milking, he comes to the farm and hides in the corner, waiting for the milk to spill on the floor.

The poison of vipers does not work on hedgehogs, just as other poisons do not work: arsenic, opium, hydrocyanic acid.
But the needles of some types of hedgehogs are poisonous. Although the hedgehogs themselves do not produce poison, it remained on the needles after encounters with poisonous toads.

The hedgehog's gestation period is 7 weeks. There is one offspring per year, from 3 to 6 (sometimes up to 7-8) cubs.

Hedgehogs are born blind and without needles. Needles (soft at first) begin to appear a few hours after birth. The eyes of hedgehogs open only on the 16th day.

Hedgehogs are easy to tame. They perfectly find a "common language" with dogs and cats.

The common hedgehog is useful in the destruction of harmful insects: among the insects it eats are May beetles, hairy ground beetles, nun caterpillars and gypsy moth. At the same time, the hedgehog destroys the chicks and eggs of small birds nesting on the ground. Hedgehogs also rob layings of ordinary chickens and kidnap chickens.

When threatened, hedgehogs curl up into a ball, exposing their spines to the enemy. The exception is the eared hedgehog, which flees from enemies. He runs faster than other hedgehogs, and often tries to escape, while hissing and bouncing.

How do hedgehogs curl up into a ball? Under the skin, covered from above and from the sides with a spiny shell, they have an almost continuous layer of longitudinal and annular muscles. With their contraction, the hedgehog curls up, taking the form of a prickly ball. By the way, some animals have found a way to "unroll" hedgehogs. The fox, for example, in order for the hedgehog to turn around, gently rolls it into the water.