European Hedgehog Diet
Hegehogs are insectavors which means they eat insects. Their diet also includes spiders, slugs, snails, frogs, toads, lizards, snakes, bird eggs, nestlings and fallen fruit.
Description
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Hegehogs can grow up to 14-30cm from head to tail and a heathy adult weighs about 1.1kg. Hedgehogs have a cone like, hairless muzzle. They have large feet and short limbs. Their underside can be black or white, sometimes mottled. They have large eyes and a stocky body coverd with spines. The spine can grow from 2-3cm long and the spines are cream coloured. The spines also have brown and black bands around the top. Hedgehogs have large ears.
Habitat
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Most hedgehogs live around humans. They live around parks, in gardens, farmlands, orchards and in vineyards. Others live in woodland, meadows and grassland.
Hibernation
The hedgehog is a good example of an animal that hibernates. Hegehogs gather sticks and leaves to make a nest for peparation before hibernation. After it has collected enough leaves the hedgehog will run around in circles in the nest to create a wall that is 10cm high.When it gets cold enough, the hegehog will curl into a ball in the nest. During Hiberation, hegehogs can wake up for 7-11 days at a time. In hibernation their heart rate decreases from 190 per minute to 20 beats per minute. The metabolism will decrease (Metabolism is the the amount of energy used) Its temperature drops to 4˚c. During hibernation the hedgehog can appear dead. To tell if a hegehog is dead or hibernating touch it the spines. They still bristle when it is hibernating.