There are only 17 species of hedgehogs in the world. They live in Europe, Africa, Asia, and in New Zealand by introduction. There are no hedgehogs native to Australia or America.
Hedgehogs are solitary animals who only form couples during the mating period. After mating, the male leaves the female forever and does not care about the fate of their babies.
Hedgehogs, regardless of their size, have their body covered in between 5000 and 7000 thorns. When it feels threatened, the hedgehog uses its dorsal muscles to position its thorns vertically, which makes it look more threatening.
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The hedgehog is a nocturnal animal. During the day, it rests and sleeps in a burrow made of grass and dried leaves. At night it comes out looking for food, scouring the ground with its snout. Hedgehogs are immune to snake venom, which means them kill and eat venomous snakes such as vipers. They feed on worms, insects, seeds, fruit or snakes. They can swim, climb trees and run fast on short distances. When they walk, hedgehogs emit sounds similar to a pig’s growl.
The animal that resembles hedgehogs the most is the porcupine. The only difference between them, apart from the physical differences, is in their diet. Hedgehogs feed on insects and small animals, while the porcupine is a herbivore animal. Hedgehogs are very resistant to toxins, being able to eat venomous snakes, all sorts of toxic insects such as wasps, bees, beetles and even ray frogs. It is usually a slow animal, however when hunting it is unbelievably agile, being able to reach speeds of 10kmh.
Smaller species of hedgehogs live between 3 and 5 years, larger ones live up to 8 years, and in captivity, all species live 2 to 3 years more than in the wild.
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