The Happy Hedgehog Trivia Quiz

Answer: North America

There are five genera of hedgehog, including Atelerix, Erinaceus, Hemiechinus, Mesechinus and Paraechinus. They are native to Europe, Africa, Asia, and parts of the Middle East. The hedgehog is not native to North and South America, Canada, Australia and neither of the Arctic regions. European hedgehogs (Erinaceus) were introduced into New Zealand in the 19th century. It is unsure how many hedgehogs are left living in the wild, but there has been a serious decrease in the last 50 years due to habitat loss, hedgerow loss, new road systems, increased housing, less green space, and climate change including flooding.

Hedgies can be found living in grassland, woodland, meadows and even desert areas, in fact anywhere that is not wet or boggy. Furthermore, they nest under vegetation or even in unused burrows as long as they feel safe hidden away from predators. These mainly nocturnal creatures have very poor eyesight so rely on their sense of smell and hearing to navigate.

Answer: Array

The collective name does not come up often as hedgehogs are solitary creatures by nature. If they do collect in groups, or an array, it is because of their feeding or mating habits. The male hedgehog is called a boar, and the slightly smaller female is called a sow.

Their name is taken from the Middle English word "heyghoge"; "heyg" meaning hedge (because of its habitat) and "hoge" meaning hog (because of its snout-like appearance). They make a pig-like snuffling noise as they contentedly forage for food.

Answer: No

Hedgehogs belong to the Eulipotyphla scientific order whereas the porcupine belong to Rodentia. Hedgehogs are closely related to the shrew, mole and solenodon.

Once hedgehogs reach adulthood, they grow to 12-30cm long and 0.5-1.25 kilos in weight. Porcupines are much larger and grow 60-90cm long (not including tail) and 5-16 kilos in weight. Hedgehogs live 2-7 years in the wild whereas the porcupine can live up to 27 years. Hedgehogs hibernate during the winter and porcupines are active all year round. So, as well as belonging to two separate species, the characteristics between hedgehog and porcupine are vastly different.

Answer: Shock absorbency when falling off trees

One of the amazing characteristics that make the hedgehog so identifiable is its ability to curl into a tight ball for protection. They can run very fast, about 4 mph, but their predators are faster. These include badgers, foxes, mongooses, wild dogs and owls.

The immediate impulse of the hedgehog is to use their sharp spines as a way of defence. They have two muscles, called orbicularis and panniculus carnosus, which encircle the body. When these are pulled tight, they have the same effect as a drawstring, enabling them to hide their head and body within the covering of spines.

Hedgehogs are also excellent climbers. They are not arboreal by nature but do climb trees and fences to search out grubs and insects. Their automatic response if they fall is to curl into a tight ball to soften the impact.

Answer: Self anointing

Hedgehogs do not use scent marking, unlike other animals, but self anoint their body instead. Self anointing is when an animal marks its body with an odoriferous substance they find on their travels. Imagine taking your lovely clean dog for a walk in a field when it decides to roll over in cow manure. That is self anointing.

There are many theories as to why hedgehogs self anoint, the most probable being to spread toxins as protection against predators, or to use as scent camouflage. Tests have shown that juveniles self anoint more than adults, and females more than males.

Answer: Yes

Hedgehogs are very strong swimmers. They need to swim as a way of traversing streams in their natural environment. This does not mean they can swim several lengths of a swimming pool, but they do need a gently sloping edge to be able to get out from, otherwise they will drown.

This also includes deep sided garden ponds so I'm sure they would appreciate a piece of chicken wire placed at the edge to help them climb up.

Answer: Quilling

Similar to a snake shedding its skin, or a cat or dog molting, hedgehogs go through a process called quilling. They start quilling from an early age, around four-six weeks old, and then again at around twelve weeks old. Their final quilling is around four months old when they achieve their adult colouration. They can get fairly grumpy during this period which is why it has been equated to a baby teething, the terrible twos or teenage angst.

An adult hedgehog can have between 5,000 to 7,000 spines, all of which are made from keratin and are hollow. They are not naturally poisonous or barbed. The upright spines crisscross one another so that the whole back is covered, especially when they roll into a ball for protection. When adult, the hedgie may lose its spines due to a medical condition such as mites, or a fungal infection such as ringworm.

Answer: Milk

Hedgehogs grunt and snuffle as they search under hedges for grubs, worms and juicy slugs. Their main diet is insectivorous but they are classified as omnivorous because they also eat fallen fruit, bird eggs, frogs and baby rodents. Hedgehogs have become more urban so they are known as the gardeners friend because they eat all the garden pests that are harmful to plants and vegetables.

Some hedgehogs hibernate, but for those still hunting for food when the weather turns bad and food is scarce, people can leave treats outside including mealworms, cooked meat, dried cat and dog food, and fruit.

Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant so should only drink water. Their diet is high in protein and low in fat so they should avoid eating peanuts and avocado. Chocolate is a definite no-no.

Answer: African pygmy hedgehog

Hedgehogs were domesticated as early as the fourth century when they were raised for their meat and quills. They have been popularised through the writings of William Shakespeare when his witch chanted "Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin'd" in the play "Macbeth". More recently, Beatrix Potter had a pet hedgehog which inspired the drawings for "The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle".

The African pygmy hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris) is also called the four-toed hedgehog. It is one of the smallest members of the hedgehog family. Their natural habitat is the tropical grass and shrubland of central Africa, from east to west coast. They are kept as pets and bred in captivity, although the inbreeding of hedgehogs has resulted in many defects and a weaker immune system. Keeping domesticated hedgehogs as pets has been made illegal in some countries and states.

Answer: Hoglet

The courtship of the adult male and female hedgehog results in a lot of noisy huffing, puffing, grunting and rhythmic encircling for about two hours before they finally mate. When she is ready, the female will flatten herself down on the ground to accept the male (without causing him injury from her spines!). Mating takes place between April to June with mum giving birth around five weeks later. There is usually one litter a year, but a second and much later litter is more at risk due to the onset of winter.

The babies are called either hoglets or sometimes urchin. Mums can have a litter of up to ten hoglets, but usually four on average. The tiny babies are born blind and without spines, with soft tiny white spines starting to appear after a few hours. Their eyes open after two weeks and their teeth start appearing a week after that. The male has long gone and leaves it to the female to rear her litter for two months, after which the young are left to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, not many hoglets reach adulthood as although the mum looks cute and cuddly (albeit prickly), she has a nasty tendency of eating her babies if she gets stressed out in any way.