Erinaceus europaeus - European Hedgehog

 The European Hedgehog 

By Lachlan Royle 

A friendly campus companion nicknamed 'herb'

Habitat and Distribution 

The UK population of Hedgehogs is currently sitting at around 1.5 million making them one of our more numerous terrestrial mammals. They are mostly nocturnal and as a result are not as frequently seen as some of our other more numerous vertebrates. It is incredibly widespread throughout Europe and central Asia, this is due in part to their adaptability, the Hedgehog is comfortable in varying habitats from woodlands and hedges through to urban gardens and parks. They have also thrived when introduced to islands, such as Shetland and Orkney. Behind maybe only foxes and rats hedgehogs have proven themselves to be very adaptable in the UK to the shifting Urban areas. On UEA campus there were at least 4 individuals at the start of the academic year, unfortunately at Easter one was run over, of the 3 remaining there is one that has gained a particular affection from me and my flatmates, this individual has been nicknamed 'herb' and is a keenly anticipated sight in the evenings. 

Behaviour 

As previously stated the hedgehog is a nocturnal animal and a very shy one at that, if observed you will be able to watch them frequently stop and smell the air to check their surroundings for any potential threats. If threatened the hedgehog adopts a now very well known technique, it curls itself tight into a ball using it's keratin spikes to deter any unwanted attention. This generally proves very effective, as a result very few predators will actively hunt hedgehogs with foxes being the most adept at it. Their biggest threat in the UK tends to be roads, with increased urbanisation the hedgehog population find themselves having to make mad dashes across roads resulting in frequent fatalities, new studies suggest up to 300,000 a year can be runover on UK roads, a large proportion of the population. Hedgehogs will normally give birth in the months of June and July, an average litter of hoglets is 4-5 but they can be as big as 7. At around 3-4 weeks the babies will leave the nest and enter the outside world, at around 2 years these hoglets reach sexual maturity and have offspring of their own.