Day 3: Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs roll up into a prickly ball to deter predators. They also sleep in this position. They have anywhere between 5,000-6,500 spines on them. Although they resemble porcupines, they are not closely related. Instead hedgehogs share a distant ancestry with shrews. There are seventeen species of hedgehog and are in the order Erinaceomorpha. They can be found in Europe, Asia, and Africa and New Zealand (by introduction). Their diet consists of worms, centipedes, snails, mice, frogs, and snakes. As a hedgehog picks its way through the hedges it emits piglike grunts, thus the name hedgehog.