White-breasted hedgehog description for children. White-breasted hedgehog

Order - Urchiniformes / Family - Urchins / Genus - Eurasian hedgehogs

History of study

The Eastern European hedgehog, or white-breasted hedgehog, or white-bellied hedgehog (lat. Erinaceus concolor) is a mammal of the genus Eurasian hedgehogs; the closest relative of the common hedgehog.

Spreading

The Eastern European hedgehog is distributed from Central Europe to Western Siberia. The northern border of the range runs through Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Moscow and Kirov regions. In the south it is found on the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Israel, the Caucasus, Iran, northern Kazakhstan, as well as on the island. Crete and a number of other Mediterranean islands. In Russia it lives in the middle zone and in the south, also in the Southern Urals.

Appearance

The back and sides are covered with needles 2.5–3.5 cm long, white at the base and tip, and black or brown in the middle. The abdomen, covered with hard bristly fur, is brown, and there is a vaguely shaped white spot on the chest. The muzzle is dark brown and is crowned with small ears, almost invisible due to the fur. The hedgehog's body length reaches 35 cm, and its weight, depending on the time of year, varies from 600 to 1200 grams. There are no differences in color or size between the sexes.

Reproduction

The breeding season extends throughout the warm season. Females build brood nests 20-30 cm long and 15-20 cm wide from dry leaves, grasses and twigs. The nests are located in bushes, under hummocks and stones, even in woodpiles. During the year, the female brings 1 litter of 3-8 cubs.

Lifestyle

The predator lives in a variety of biomes, from semi-deserts to alpine meadows, at an altitude of up to 1100 meters above sea level.

The most preferred are wooded areas with edges, ravines, and thickets of bushes. The animal avoids dense perennial forests.

For most of their lives, animals live separately from each other, uniting in pairs only during the breeding season. The white-breasted hedgehog is most active at night, searching for food.

For wintering, the animal builds itself a small nest of dry grass, leaves and twigs, and in the summer it spends the night wherever necessary.

Despite the ability to curl up into a ball, turning into a prickly ball, predators still get to the hedgehog. The most dangerous enemies for the animal are owls, badgers, ferrets, and other mustelids.

Nutrition

The main diet of Eastern European hedgehogs consists of insects (beetles, Orthoptera, earwigs, caterpillars); prefers various types of ground beetles. Quite often it eats slugs, snails, woodlice, earthworms, as well as berries (strawberries, strawberries, raspberries, mulberries), moss, acorns, cereal and sunflower seeds, and mushrooms. Does not disdain carrion. In the north, the proportion of vertebrates in the diet increases - amphibians, lizards, small rodents.

The Eastern European white-breasted hedgehog (lat. Erinaceus roumanicus) belongs to the Hedgehog family (Erinaceidae). It is the closest relative, from which it differs by a white spot on the chest, dark brown sides and head.

The ancient Roman historian and writer Pliny the Elder wrote in his encyclopedic work “Natural History” that this animal carries apples on its needles, preparing supplies for the winter. In fact, it is insectivorous and has nothing to do with fruit harvesting. Nevertheless, the image created in antiquity has safely survived to this day.

In the anonymous collection of articles on nature, The Physiologist, which supposedly appeared in the 2nd-3rd centuries in Alexandria, apples were replaced with grapes. Christian morality was added to the fictional phenomenon - the fruit-stealing hedgehog became an allegorical embodiment of the devil, eager to steal immortal souls.

Subsequently, Archbishop of Seville Isidore of Seville (560-638) discussed this in detail in his twenty-volume encyclopedia “Etymology”. In 1598 he was canonized and canonized. Now he is considered one of the patrons of the Internet, students and webmasters.

Spreading

Its habitat occupies the territory from Central Europe to Western Siberia. Its southern border runs through the Balkans, the Black Sea regions of Ukraine and Transcaucasia to the shores of the Caspian Sea, and the northern border along the Baltic Sea coast through Belarus and the Moscow region of Russia.

In Malaya and Central Asia inhabited by the southern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus concolor), which until 2007 was considered a subspecies of Erinaceus roumanicus.

White-breasted hedgehogs inhabit a variety of landscapes with the exception of deserts and dense tall forests. They settle on forest edges, in river valleys, forest plantations and semi-deserts. In mountainous areas they live in alpine meadows at altitudes up to 1400 m above sea level. Animals feel comfortable in gardens, parks and personal plots.

There are 5 known subspecies. All of them produce hybrid offspring with ordinary hedgehogs in places where their ranges partially overlap.

Behavior

The white-breasted hedgehog is a staunch hermit. He tries to avoid any contact with his relatives except mating season. The home area of ​​males reaches 100 hectares, while that of females is three times smaller.

During the day, the animal rests in a nest, which it builds from scrap materials.

Typically, twigs, moss, hay and grass are used as building materials. Sometimes hedgehogs don’t bother themselves with unnecessary trouble and settle in natural shelters. In the north of their range, they often settle in burrows abandoned by other animals.

From November to March, hedgehogs are in a state of hibernation. They spend it in a hole, having previously covered the entrance hole with earth. In winter they wake up several times. When frosts below -5°C arrive, their body temperature drops to 4°C.

Vision is poorly developed. Hedgehogs barely distinguish colors, relying on their keen hearing when hunting. They are capable of perceiving sound signals with a frequency of up to 20 kHz. A developed sense of smell allows them to find food, locate predators, and find breeding partners.

Despite their short limbs, the animals can run fast. At short distances they reach speeds of up to 60-120 m/min.

Nutrition

In the evening Eastern European hedgehogs They go out in search of food and feed until the morning. The diet is dominated by various insects, mainly beetles, grasshoppers, ground beetles, ants and caterpillars. In addition to them, the animals eat slugs, centipedes, earthworms and snails.

In summer they feast on berries, mushrooms and seeds cereal crops. Small rodents, frogs, lizards and carrion occupy an insignificant place in the daily menu.

At the beginning of autumn, animals eat intensively in order to acquire enough fat for the winter. Until spring they lose up to a third of their body weight.

Reproduction

Sexual maturity in females occurs at 3-4 months, but they usually mate at one year of age after the end of hibernation. Estrus lasts 10-14 days, twice a season. The female, ready for fertilization, finds the male herself and begins to show him signs of attention, regularly pushing and crawling on top of him.

After a week of such courtship, the partners change roles. The male becomes active and makes low whistling sounds, vaguely reminiscent of the cries of seagulls.

After mating, the partners separate forever. A plug forms in the female's vagina, preventing her from mating with other males.

Pregnancy lasts 30-40 days. Shortly before giving birth, the female builds a nest in a secluded place. There are 2-5, maximum 10 cubs in a litter. They are born weighing about 18 g.

Hedgehogs are born blind, deaf and naked. They are covered with dense hairs that harden within a few hours. At two weeks of age, their eyes open, and after another week, their ears form and hearing appears. At this time, they leave the nest for the first time and begin to taste solid food.

Milk feeding continues for more than a month. At the age of 6-7 weeks, hedgehogs become independent and disperse in different directions, but sometimes remain with their mother for some time. Because of high mortality No more than a quarter of young hedgehogs survive until next spring.

During the day, the temperature is maintained in the range of 22°-25°C, and at night it is lowered to 21°-23°C. Coolness below 18°C ​​causes a decrease in metabolism and drowsiness. For heating, you can use 50 W incandescent lamps.

The terrarium is cleaned every day, removing any remaining urine, feces and uneaten food. Sawdust or fruit tree shavings are placed at the bottom.

You need to arrange a shelter for your pet in the terrarium. You can make a wooden house measuring 30x30x35 cm. The inside is lined with dry hay.

Feeding is done in the morning and evening. The daily consumption rate is 100-150 g of feed. You can feed insects, zoophobass, mealworms, boiled offal, eggs and fish. Cottage cheese and boiled porridge, greens, raw vegetables and fruits are gradually introduced into the diet.

Vitamins, fish oil and mineral supplements are periodically added to the food. Occasionally you can feed it with food for dogs and cats.

Sugar, salt and spices should not be added to the food. Milk, pork, potatoes, corn, grapes, citrus fruits and any confectionery products are strictly prohibited.

Description

The body length of adult individuals is 22-30 cm, and the tail is 2-4 cm. Depending on the time of year, weight ranges from 400 to 1350 g. Individual specimens accumulate up to 600 g of fat before hibernation.

The length of the short rounded ears does not exceed 35 mm. They are hidden by thick fur and are almost invisible. Top part the heads and back are covered with spines about 32 mm long. Between them there is sparse hair of brown or gray-brown color. There are more than 6,500 spines on the body. They are decorated with three light and dark stripes.

Brownish bristles grow on the belly. The white spot on the chest increases with age.

The front legs are shorter than the hind legs. There are five toes on the paws. All of them are armed with sharp claws. The large head is wedge-shaped. IN wildlife life expectancy rarely exceeds 5 years.

In captivity, with good care, the Eastern European white-breasted hedgehog lives up to 8-11 years.

Taxonomy

Russian name– White-breasted, or white-bellied, or Eastern European hedgehog

Latin name - Erinaceus concolor

English name - Eastern hedgehog

Class– Mammals (Mammalia)

Squad – Insectivora

Family – Hedgehogs (Erinaceidae)

Status of the species in nature

Classified as a species of least concern international status– IUCN (LC). Throughout its range, the white-breasted hedgehog is common.

Species and man

There are many myths about hedgehogs. In children's books, hedgehogs are depicted with mushrooms and apples on their backs, which they supposedly carry into their burrow and store for the winter. Many people believe that a hedgehog can curl up into a ball and roll away from a predator. And the most dangerous myth for hedgehogs is that hedgehogs feed on milk. Mammals feed on milk only in childhood; in adulthood they lose the ability to digest milk. If you treat a hedgehog with milk, he will of course drink it, but this will lead to severe digestive upset, from which the hedgehog can die.

Distribution and habitats

The range of the white-breasted hedgehog covers Central and Eastern Europe to the south of Western Siberia. The northern border of the range runs through Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Moscow and Kirov regions. In the south it is found in Asia Minor (Turkey), the Middle East, the North Caucasus, Iran, and Northern Kazakhstan. In Central Russia, the ranges of the Eastern European and common hedgehogs partially overlap, which leads to the emergence of hybrids.

The white-breasted hedgehog lives in a variety of biotopes from semi-deserts to alpine meadows. He was met in the mountains at an altitude of more than 1000 m above sea level. But everywhere hedgehogs prefer forest edges, shelter belts, field edges, banks of canals and ravines. The white-breasted hedgehog does not avoid being close to people - it can be found in a personal plot, in a public garden or in a park.

Appearance

home distinctive feature The hedgehog is a spiny shell on its back. Thanks to strong subcutaneous muscles, a hedgehog can curl up into a ball and it is almost impossible to unravel it. It can raise its needles and become more prickly, or it can lower them and become “smooth.”

In size and body proportions, the white-breasted hedgehog is very similar to an ordinary hedgehog, but darker. The chest and shoulders are almost always, especially in young individuals, covered with white fur, and the abdomen is usually brown. The hedgehog's body length is 23–35 cm, tail length is 2–4 cm. Body weight, depending on the time of year, varies from 600 grams (after waking up from hibernation) to 1230 g (before hibernation). The needles are light, with a dark belt in the upper part, up to 35 mm long, covering the back and sides. The ears are short. There are no differences in color or size between males and females.

Nutrition and feeding behavior

The hedgehog is an insectivorous animal, that is, its diet includes various insects: beetles, grasshoppers, ants, dragonflies, as well as snails, centipedes, spiders and caterpillars. A hedgehog can catch and eat a mouse, a lizard, chicks or eggs of birds nesting on the ground, and does not disdain carrion. Since hedgehogs are little sensitive to poisons, on occasion they willingly eat frogs, toads, snakes, hairy caterpillars and other inedible animals. Berries, mushrooms, acorns and other vegetation can also serve as food for a hedgehog. But the hedgehog does not store mushrooms and apples for the winter, because he sleeps all winter and does not have the opportunity to eat.

The hedgehog accumulates reserves for the winter in the form of fat. During hibernation, this fat is consumed, and the hedgehog lives off of these nutrients. Moreover, there should be a lot of fat, since during hibernation the hedgehog loses more than a third of its weight. If by autumn it weighs less than 600 grams, it will die in winter.

Activity and social behavior

Like other hedgehogs, the white-breasted hedgehog is active at night and spends the day in shelters. But in the spring, hedgehogs, hungry during the winter, actively search for food during the day. In a calm state, the hedgehog walks leisurely, but when it hears the sounds of potential prey, it quickly runs. To better navigate in which direction to run, the hedgehog makes short stops in order to determine the distance to the victim and diligently sniff. If the victim is at a distance of no more than 20 cm, the hedgehog makes a throw. The hedgehog's hearing and sense of smell are well developed, but its vision is not very good.

When meeting an “enemy,” the hedgehog curls up into a spiky ball. Of course, a hedgehog cannot roll away from an enemy in this position; in order to escape, it must get to its feet. But a hedgehog can “keep a siege” in a collapsed position for quite a long time.

Some predators still manage to catch hedgehogs. The eagle owl attacks from the air, its flight is silent and the hedgehog simply does not have time to react and curl up.

By autumn, hedgehogs fatten up, find or dig a fairly deep hole, line it with dry leaves and hibernate until spring. The depth of the hole is very important, because if the hole freezes in winter, the hedgehog will die. During hibernation, the hedgehog's body temperature decreases greatly, the heart rate decreases (from 180 to 20–60 beats per minute), and breathing movements occur once per minute. Since in hibernation a hedgehog lives only from fat reserves, it loses up to 35% of its weight. Therefore, in order to winter well, the animal must weigh at least 600 g in the fall, otherwise it will die during hibernation. Often the white-breasted hedgehog, just like the ordinary one, overwinters for several years in the same nest.

Like other types of hedgehogs, white-breasted hedgehogs live alone, looking for their own kind only during reproduction.

The enemies of the white-breasted hedgehog are stray dogs, badger, steppe eagle, eagle owl, fox, wolf, marsh harrier, kite

Vocalization

When cornered and attacked by a persistent predator or person, the hedgehog loudly puffs, snorts and jumps. Males make low, monotonous whistling sounds during the breeding season.

Reproduction and development

In the spring, when the air temperature rises, hedgehogs come out of hibernation and almost immediately begin to reproduce. Males have fights over females, during which they bite each other with their quills pulled up on their foreheads, try to hit their opponent harder, sniffle and snort loudly. The winner circles around the female for a long time to gain her favor. After mating, the male and female separate.

A week before giving birth, the female makes a nest in a secluded place: under the roots of a tree, in a bush, in an abandoned hole, even in a woodpile. The inside of the nest is lined with dry leaves, grass or twigs. 30–45 days after mating, the female gives birth to 2–8 naked, blind cubs in the brood nest. They are small - they weigh only 13–20 g. Hedgehogs are born without needles, the needles grow only after a few hours. At first they are soft, but after two weeks they become real thorns.

When babies are hungry or find themselves outside the nest, they quietly click and squeak, and also make sounds in the ultrasonic range. The mother, hearing these sounds, most often runs to the calf in trouble and drags it back to the nest. For a whole month, the mother feeds the cubs with milk. Young hedgehogs become independent at 1.5 - 2 months. By autumn they already weigh 350–450 g. Sexual maturity occurs in the second year of life. Hedgehogs can reproduce throughout the warm season, but a hedgehog gives birth to cubs only once per year.

Lifespan

The lifespan of a hedgehog in natural conditions is three years, in captivity - up to four years.

The Story of Life at the Zoo

The white-breasted hedgehog can be seen in the Night World pavilion in summer time, because hedgehogs sleep in winter. This pavilion has an “inverted” daylight hours: at night it is light, but during the day, when visitors come to the zoo, it is almost completely dark, there is dim lighting in blue or red. With such lighting, animals feel and behave as if in the dark.

The daily menu of the white-breasted hedgehog includes meat, newborn mice, grated carrots, chicken eggs, cottage cheese, and live insects.

White-breasted hedgehog (white-bellied hedgehog) - Erinaceus concolor Martin, 1838

Order Insectivores - Insectivora

Hedgehog family - Erinacaeidae

Category, status. 4 - uncertain status due to little research and insufficient documented information. Included in the Red Book of the Republic of Latvia. Modern morphological (3, 7), biochemical and molecular (2) studies have shown the taxonomic independence of 4 species in the genus common hedgehogs(Erinaceus): common (Central Russian), southern (Danube), Amur, white-breasted (6). The presence of the white-breasted hedgehog in Russia has not yet been confirmed by molecular data (6).

Short description. Body length 180-352 mm, tail length 20-39 mm, body weight 240-1232 g. Ears are short, less than 35 mm. The length of the needles is 25-35 mm, the hair is bristly and stiff. The color of the fur is dominated by dark brown and grayish-ocher tones, the needles are brownish, with whitish streaks. On the chest, and often also on the throat and belly, there is a continuous blurry patch of white hair (3,4,5).

Area and distribution. From Central Europe to Western Siberia, the stable northern border of the range runs through Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Moscow, Kostroma and Kirov regions, in the south - the Balkan Peninsula, Turkey, the Caucasian Isthmus, northern Kazakhstan (4.5). In the Pskov region, the white-breasted hedgehog is indicated for the territory of the Sebezhsky National Park (Osyno village, Rudnya village) (1, 8).

Habitats and biological features. Found in a variety of landscapes from semi-deserts to alpine meadows, avoids continuous high-trunk forests. Prefers forest edges, river valleys, fieldsides, forest belts, populated areas with personal plots, recreational areas. In the Pskov region it was noted in rural populated areas(1.8). Active at night. Males do not build nests in summer, using natural shelters for rest. Brood nests are located in bushes, under hummocks, lined from the inside with dry leaves or grass, small branches. Hibernation from September to March - April. Its duration depends on climatic conditions, gender, age and the amount of fat reserves of the animal. The basis of nutrition is insects. Quite often it also eats slugs, earthworms, berries, and cereal seeds. In the northern part of the range, the proportion of amphibians in the diet increases. The breeding period extends throughout the warm season, females bring 1 litter of 3-8 cubs (4.5).

Species abundance and limiting factors. No data available. Compared to an ordinary hedgehog, it is more sensitive to cold. Unfavorable overwintering conditions are the main limiting factor.

Security measures. Guarded in national park"Sebezhsky". It is necessary to search for new locations of the species and confirm its taxonomic status using modern methods.

Information sources:

1. Aksenova et al., 2001; 2. Bannikova et al., 2003; 3. Zaitsev, 1984; 4. Mammals..., 1999; 5. Pavlinov, 1999; 6. Pavlinov, Lisovsky, 2012; 7. Tembotova, 1999; 8. Fetisov, 2005.

Compiled by: A. V. Istomin.