How Do Hedgehogs Spend the Winter? A Detailed Explanation of Hedgehogs' Overwintering Methods

Presumably everyone knows the hedgehog; it is a small animal covered in short, dense spines, and when facing enemies it can curl its body into a ball, looking very cute. So, how do hedgehogs spend the winter?

1. How do hedgehogs spend the winter?

Hedgehogs are heterothermic animals and hibernate in winter. In late autumn, when the temperature drops to 7°C, they begin hibernation, hibernating in burrows or in piles of dead branches and fallen leaves. After entering hibernation, they do not eat or drink, their body temperature drops to 6°C, they breathe at most eight times per minute, sometimes only once, and even go several minutes without breathing, while their heartbeat decreases to twenty times per minute. They do not wake until the temperature warms to a certain level the following spring.

2. What do hedgehogs eat?

The hedgehog's favorite foods are ants and termites; it also eats young birds, bird eggs, frogs, lizards, and so on, and occasionally eats crops. Hedgehogs living freely in the wild will clear insect pupae, mice and snakes for parks, gardens and small courtyards. If artificially bred, they can be fed caterpillars, beetles, snails, earthworms, fruit, meat scraps, grain, green vegetables, and so on.

3. Are hedgehogs protected animals?

Hedgehogs are protected animals and have been included in the "List of Terrestrial Wild Animals Protected by the State That Are Beneficial or of Important Economic or Scientific Research Value" issued by China's State Forestry Administration on August 1, 2000.