Colours of Wildlife: South African Hedgehog

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South African Hedgehog

Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"

South African Hedgehog by Willem.


A real cute little critter for y'all this time! This is a South African Hedgehog, Atelerix frontalis. I consider this to be one of the cutest of the world's hedgehog species! It is the only species occurring in South Africa, but differs visually from other species in its overall dark colour only relieved by the white band of fur over its forehead, face and cheeks. There are five other species of hedgehog in Africa, this being one of the rarest. Nevertheless, it's not so rare that I haven't seen it on numerous occasions. It happens to enjoy life in well-vegetated suburban gardens, and sometimes it will enter houses in search of food; sometimes people keep it as a pet. While I don't think it's ever good to try to make pets of wild animals, hedgehogs may stay around the house of their own accord, and may appreciate some minced meat or cat or dog food on occasion. And they are delightful little characters to have around!

Spiky Hair and Muscular Skin


Hedgehogs have some amazing adaptations. The little prickles that cover their backs and sides are actually modified hairs. These have become very hard, stiff and sharp-tipped. Though similar to the spines of porcupines, they have been evolved independently, hedgehogs not being closely related to porcupines at all. But their spines are similarly effective protection against predators. The spines don't come loose from the skin the way porcupine spines do, but they cause numerous painful little pricks that seriously dissuade anything else from trying to mess with a hedgehog. (Nanny Ogg in the Discworld books knows a song about that). Even lions are respectful of them! There is only one serious predator of the South African hedgehog – the Giant Eagle Owl. This owl has powerful feet and talons covered in hard scales, with which it can grasp and kill a hedgehog without suffering injury. The owl then peels off the spiny skin using its hard, sharp beak, and swallows the rest of the hedgehog whole. Luckily giant eagle owls are not very common, and hedgehogs can mostly evade them by staying in dense cover.


The spines alone cover most of the hedgehog, but there is another adaptation that makes its protection even more effective (against anything other than an eagle owl, that is). It can roll itself up into a ball. In its skin it has a large muscle, like a big 'bag', that normally is stretched over its back and sides. When it rolls up into a ball, this 'bag' contracts and enfolds its entire body, so that the prickles now are covering its entire outside! So, its normally vulnerable head, belly and limbs are protected as well. Hedgehogs will roll up at the first sign of danger, and will stay rolled up until they reckon it is past. It is amusing to watch them unroll and poke their little heads and ears out to try to make sure all is safe. At any sign of danger the hedgehog will roll up and pull its skin shut again.

Torpor and Hibernation


In South Africa, this hedgehog occurs in intermediate habitats: not too wet or too dry. It needs dry cover such as piles of leaves in which to sleep and hide by day. It doesn't like soggy sleeping conditions and so stays away from wet climates. But it also needs plenty of vegetation for cover and safety from predators, and so stays away from true deserts. But savannah, grasslands and shrublands all can provide good living to them. Hedgehogs need several different sleeping-and-resting-places in their territories, as they do not like sleeping in the same place two days in a row.


For safety, hedgehogs are mainly nocturnal (again, not helping much with the owls). They are sometimes out in the day, but most of their foraging happens in the dark. They aren't adapted to seeing well by night – indeed they can't even see well by day, having small eyes. Their noses and ears are their main senses. They eat mostly invertebrate critters like crickets, beetles, worms, and even noxious millipedes! They may also catch small vertebrates such as lizards and small snakes, baby mice, and bird chicks. They occasionally take in some plant food and fungi. They normally forage with a slow, shuffling gait. Their limbs are usually concealed by being partly inside the skin-bag, but their front and hind legs are actually quite long, and they can lift themselves high on their legs and run surprisingly fast if necessary.


In the fairly dry regions they prefer to live in, food is seasonally available. During the rainy season, which is the spring and summer, food is plentiful. But when autumn arrives, the rain stops and soon the plants stop growing, and the insects and other invertebrates decrease as well. Hedgehogs feed well until autumn, putting on a layer of fat underneath their skin. As the food becomes more scarce, the hedgehogs become less active. When winter arrives, the hedgehogs stop foraging almost entirely, withdrawing to their shelters. Here they stay rolled up, sleeping or resting. Only on exceptionally warm days would they 'wake up' and leave their shelters to see what's happening outside and maybe try to find a bite to eat. But during the coldest part of winter, they will remain inactive in their shelters for six weeks or longer at a stretch.


Winters in South Africa aren't as harsh as in Europe, and therefore it appears our hedgehogs don't hibernate exactly as long and completely as the European ones do. It is not quite clear if what they do here should be called hibernation, or merely torpor. Yet, it serves the same purpose: they rest and remain inactive during the hard months of the year, getting by on their fat reserves, and only come out and resume their normal active lifestyles once the weather is better and food can be found.

Baby Hedgehogs


Pondering the characteristics of hedgehogs, you may wonder how the females fare when it comes to giving birth to their babies. Well, luckily for them, their babies are born naked! That is to say, they have no hair, and no prickles either. At least, they have the beginnings of prickles just underneath their skins – these can be seen as white bumps in the surface of the skin. Within hours after birth, these emerge and poke through the skin. By seven days, the little hedgehogs are typically prickly!


Hedgehog litters usually number from one to nine babies, with four being average. Aside from being naked, the babies also are blind and their ears are closed. They grow fast though, and by their fourth week of life may accompany their mother on foraging trips. Their mother lies on her side so as to suckle them. They are weaned at the age of five weeks.

Solitary Lives


South African hedgehogs are not social mammals. They forage alone, and even the males and females only come together to mate, the female raising her babies alone. Hedgehogs patrol small territories, and when they encounter intruding hedgehogs, they make a lot of noise: growling, sniffing, and snorting. They may come to blows, butting each other with their spiky heads! Sometimes a strong hedgehog will be able to intimidate another and take over its territory.


These hedgehogs are somewhat rare today – rarer than the other African hedgehogs. It may be because of their being preyed upon not just by eagle owls but by humans as well. At least traditionally, some human communities have eaten them as delicacies, but this is at present probably not happening very much. Still, hedgehogs need very specific living conditions, and habitat destruction may be seriously affecting them in some regions. As I said, they can actually live in well-vegetated suburban gardens, if humans would tolerate them. Presently they are protected by legislation, all through the country. Apart from South Africa, they occur in parts of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola.

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