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European Hedgehog — printable fact sheet
Free to print or save as PDF. Great for classrooms, homeschooling, and young explorers.
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Animal Fact Sheet
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European Hedgehog
Erinaceus europaeus
A hedgehog carries roughly five thousand spines, which are modified hairs stiffened with keratin, and it rolls into a ball using a specialised ring of muscle that works like a drawstring, hauling the loose skin of the back over the head, limbs and belly until nothing soft is lef…
Did you know?
- Hedgehogs can hibernate for several months during cold winters, lowering their body temperature to match the environment and significantly slowing their metabolism.
- It has around five thousand spines, and rolls up using a ring of muscle that works like a drawstring. Meeting a strong new smell, it chews the substance into foam and spreads it over its own spines — a behaviour nobody has fully explained. It is lactose intolerant, so the traditional saucer of milk genuinely harms it. Its blood contains a protein that makes it unusually resistant to adder venom.
What I learned
Draw the european hedgehog
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