The hedgehog is one of our most popular animals, says Keith Broomfield

It is one our most endearing creatures and also one of our most unusual with its prickly coat of spines and comical gait all conspiring to make the hedgehog a creature that will always remain high in the popularity stakes.

It is a common animal in Fife with the low-lying countryside and abundant areas of wood and farmland providing the perfect habitat. It is also a common visitor to gardens and is frequent in the suburbs of all our major towns including Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Dunfermline and St Andrews.

However, it is an animal that is not without its problems with many animals dying each year on our roads and others falling victim to bonfires and even being inadvertently killed and maimed by garden strimmers.

This is a pity for the hedgehog is a good animal to have in your garden as they can help keep pests such as slugs, snails and caterpillars under control. Other favourite food includes beetles and earthworms. They will also eat birds eggs and carrion.

Hedgehogs are principally nocturnal although the long days of summer means that they are often seen out and about after 9pm, even though there is still plenty of light left in the evening sky. They can be noisy when foraging for invertebrate prey, snuffling and snorting like a pig, hence the origin of the name. The males are even called boars and the females sows.
The coat of a hedgehog comprises of about 6,000 spines, which offers protection against most predators, especially when it curls into a protective ball when disturbed. A determined badger is able to break apart a hedgehog and foxes may occasionally take the odd animal, especially young ones.

The downside of all these prickles is that a hedgehog can’t scratch itself properly, resulting in a typical animal hosting many fleas, although thankfully they are unable to colonise humans or pets.

Despite its rather cumbersome appearance, the hedgehog is surprisingly agile, and can trot at quite a speed should it feel so inclined. They can swim and climb almost vertical walls.

Two litters a year are the norm, comprising between three and five young in a nest of leaves and grass. The nest can be secreted in amongst the roots of a tree or even beneath a garden shed. The young are born with short white hairs that gradually form into spines. Most young are born in early summer.

Hedgehogs hibernate, generally from October to March, although milder winters in recent years has probably shortened this period. Last year I saw a hedgehog out and about in a garden near Culross in December. It is possible that frequent wakening in the winter due to mild spells could be detrimental to hedgehogs as they will burn up valuable energy at a time when there is little food about. Many young hedgehogs don’t make it through their first winter because they haven’t been able to lay down sufficient reserves of body fat.

Hedgehog numbers are probably pretty stable in Fife, although many hundreds must get killed on our roads each year. They also face other dangers such as getting trapped under cattle grids or being unable to escape from garden ponds.
The use of garden chemicals such as slug pellets may also be a threat. A hedgehog will eat hundreds of invertebrates during the course of a month and the minute quantities of chemicals present in each slug will soon accumulate to a significant and possibly harmful amount in a hedgehog’s body tissues. We should, therefore, keep our use of such pesticides to a minimum.