It can survive 100 days without food or water and not starve to death, yet it has been eaten into an endangered species, and catching one is illegal.

I grew up in the countryside as a child. Back then, you could see lots of animals and plants in the countryside, and when you went to play in the hills, you would often see many small animals running around, some of which you could not even name. But there was one small animal that was especially cute and was often seen, yet you did not dare go near it. This animal is the hedgehog. Speaking of hedgehogs, friends who grew up in the countryside have probably all seen one. The hedgehog is an animal covered all over in spines, which makes people and other animals dare not go near it. This is also how the hedgehog protects itself.

Do not think the hedgehog seems hard to get along with; in fact, it is also a good helper for farmers, because its main source of food is termites and some pests, so it can help farmers eat a lot of harmful insects, which makes the hedgehog a good helper for farmers. Termites in particular are the hedgehog's favorite food. As long as a hedgehog finds a termite nest, it will find a way to treat all the termites in that nest as a fine meal and feast on them. Of course, it will also eat some wild fruit, but this is a last resort. Only when it is truly starving and has no choice will it eat wild fruit.

When the weather turns cold, it is generally very hard to spot a hedgehog on the move, because the hedgehog has the habit of hibernating. As soon as winter comes, the hedgehog will curl its body into a ball and hibernate. The hedgehog's hibernation period lasts as long as 4 months. During these 100 or so days, it can go without food or water and not starve to death. Only when the temperature rises will the hedgehog come out and move around.

Do not be fooled by the hedgehog's small size; the spines covering its whole body are the best defensive weapon. The spines on a hedgehog's body can fend off attacks from many animals. Of course, even for people, it is very hard to catch a hedgehog without skill. Traps are usually set to catch them. When I was little, hedgehogs could still often be seen in the countryside. Later, with people catching them and changes in the environment, the number of hedgehogs has been decreasing year by year. Now the hedgehog has become an animal whose name people can say but which is not commonly seen.

The protective hedgehog skin can not only be used to protect the hedgehog itself; in fact, it is also a very effective Chinese medicinal material, commonly known as "immortal's garment," with effects of reducing swelling and relieving pain, and cooling the blood and removing toxins. Some medicinal material dealers always try every way to get wild hedgehog skin. It is said that a hedgehog can now sell for 60 yuan, but even at such a high price, farmers still find it very hard to find a hedgehog again.

Besides hedgehog skin, hedgehog meat is also a high-protein top-grade tonic. Roasted, it is very delicious, and it has the effects of tonifying the kidneys and increasing appetite. The hedgehog's heart, liver, gallbladder, penis and so on can also be used to soak in liquor, so wild hedgehogs are often illegally caught for sale, not realizing that this is illegal.

As early as 2000, the hedgehog was included in our country's list of "three-haves" protected animals, and catching even one is illegal. This is precisely the consequence caused by human overhunting. Now, if you want to eat hedgehog, please do not catch wild ones; there are quite a few farmed hedgehogs you can choose from.