What do the hedgehogs eat in winter, and something else about animals with spines

What do the hedgehogs eat? Such a question can be heard in a pet store or in a bazaar where these amazing animals are sold. Probably, there is no person who has lived even for a few years, who would not have heard of the hedgehog. Children know that this animal eats milk, apples, mushrooms, etc. There are hedgehogs that live at home and run around the room at night, tapping claws on the floor. And when you scare him, he turns into a ball and puffs up if he is touched with a stick or a foot in his shoes.

Fingers of legs or hands of hedgehogs are not recommended to touch, especially those who live in the wild - in the garden, in the country, in the meadow or in the woods. Even hedgehogs live in the steppe, and some even live in the desert. Hedgehogs can live near a person. For example, in our garden the hedgehog lived with small hedgehogs four meters from the house, in the bush. I cleaned the old thickets there and accidentally found her nest, which had three small flat pink ezhonka with white soft needles. I showed them to everyone who was at home, then took them to their place, into the nest. It was round, 20-25 cm in diameter, from sticks, grass, leaves, pieces of plastic bags and newspapers. And inside is lined with thin grass, old wool (probably, a dog) and other "softness".

After an hour and a half (the Internet worked quickly) we already knew what the hedgehogs live, where they live, how they behave, and who loves them (there is). And as soon as dusk came, the hedgehog went out hunting. The dog that lived in the yard, as soon as the hedgehog came, raised barking and called everyone to see this prickly miracle. Later it turned out that this dog is not afraid of hedgehogs. And somehow late at night we heard a listless flattery, then a screech sounded, like a kitten - the same plaintive.

I thought that our dog attacked the kitten and jumped out of the house to save the baby. But it turned out to be a hedgehog, whom the dog (a very kind Caucasian) pawled on a chinky path and was surprised that this ball is still squeaking. To the chagrin of the dog, I had to separate them - the dog in the box, and the hedgehog on the porch under the light of the lamp for inspection. It turned out that the prickly one was only frightened, because there were no external injuries. He was allowed on the path, and he quickly ran about his business.

Ezhatam, which I found, was from the genus no more than 2 days, because on the third day, the needles usually darken. They fed their hedgehog from 2, 3 or even 4 pairs of nipples. Papa-hedgehog, according to the habit of eating, did not live with his family, but he lived somewhere nearby. The hunting territory of the mother-ezhiha was from 6 to 10 hectares, and the popes - 2 times more. That is, all the neighboring vegetable gardens, meadow and 2-3 hundred meters of almost dry ditch.

Although hedgehogs swim well, but do not like living on swamps - they can jump from a hummock to a hummock, but do not want to. They do not see well, but the prey is sniffed very far, and it can be caught up, running at a speed of up to 3 m / sec. Dads do not allow foreign hedgehogs on their territory and do not go to visit their neighbors. Although they say that hedgehogs go to visit the cubs and horses. But it's in the movies. And what the hedgehogs eat, they also showed it to the cinema.

And in life they eat everything that gets caught in a hunt: adult beetles, bears, lizards, mice, all kinds of reptiles and amphibians of small size. They can eat worms, caterpillars, slugs, eggs and chicks from nests located on the ground, and even poisonous snakes. Feeds the hedgehog until late autumn, accumulating fat for the winter, like a huge bear, and then hammered into a nest, wrapped in its litter and falls asleep until the spring. In winter, if the hedgehog was awakened, it almost certainly perishes. But it's an ordinary hedgehog.

Let's talk about another species of these animals. Happens still a hedgehog. His ears are not like a hare, of course, but also large, up to 5 cm. And he himself is half as small as an ordinary hedgehog. Live eared in Asia and parts of Africa. In the CIS - in the southern regions. Needles in them grow only on the back. On the sides, legs, muzzle and abdomen - light soft wool. The eared hedgehog lives in the desert and semi-desert. Nora burrows himself, up to 1.5 m, or takes abandoned. For the winter accumulates fat and goes to the hedgehog "den". In danger, or runs away, or hisses and tries to prick with needles, he can not fold into a ball. Eats the same as eating common hedgehogs - beetles, caterpillars, sometimes mice, snakes, lizards. He does not disdain berries and fruits, but he does not climb trees.