White-breasted hedgehog description for children. Eastern European or white-breasted hedgehog

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

Area white-breasted hedgehog covers Central and Eastern Europe to the south Western Siberia. The northern border of the range runs along 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, and 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 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 young in a 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. Puberty 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 egg, cottage cheese, live insects.

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

History of the 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 lives in middle lane and in the south, also in 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 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.

Eastern European, white-breasted or white-bellied hedgehog (lat. Erinaceus concolor) - most close relative an ordinary hedgehog. Moreover, in some parts of their range they are also neighbors, so they are often found here interspecific hybrids, very similar to each other.

As for the Eastern European hedgehog itself, it can be distinguished from the ordinary one by its dark head and dark brown sides, as well as a lighter throat and belly. And if the hedgehog does not curl up into a ball and allows you to look at its chest, then you will definitely notice a small blurry white spot here. The brown fur on the belly is bristly and coarse. The rest of the body, including the paws, is covered with needles - dark in the middle and light at the base and tips.

A hedgehog weighs from 240 g to 1.25 kg. Such big difference is explained by the need to gain at least half a kilo of fat by winter, which the animal needs to survive the winter. If the body weight before hibernation is below 600 g, then in the spring it simply will not wake up. The body length of the Eastern European hedgehog reaches 35 cm, the tail - 3.9 cm.

The white-breasted hedgehog has small ears - only 3.5 cm, which are so well hidden by thick fur that they are almost invisible. The eyes are small and black, the nose is elongated and moist. Males and females look almost identical and differ only slightly in size.

The range of the Eastern European hedgehog stretches from central Europe in the west to western Siberia in the east. In the north it is limited by Belovezhskaya Pushcha, as well as the Moscow and Kirov regions. In the south, the hedgehog settled on the Balkan Peninsula, Israel, Iran, the Caucasus and some Mediterranean islands, including Crete. Residents of Russia can see it in the middle zone and in the south.

The white-breasted hedgehog prefers forest belts, river banks, forest edges, outskirts of villages and cities, as well as parks and squares. Here he builds a nest for himself from fallen leaves, hay, branches and moss, where he hides during the winter. But in the summer, he doesn’t arrange his home very carefully, making do with whatever comes his way. Only females build nests to produce offspring.

Breeding season begins for Eastern European hedgehogs early spring and extends throughout the warm season. At the same time, females produce no more than one brood per year. Their pregnancy lasts about 49 days and ends with the birth of 3-8 naked pink hedgehogs. Like other members of the family, babies become covered with needles within a few hours. True, these spines are still too soft to serve as reliable protection.

Only after two weeks will they harden and give the kids the opportunity to somehow drive away uninvited guests. Until this time, the mother vigilantly monitors the safety of her little ones, trying to drive away enemies with a menacing hiss and snort. It’s a pity, but this method is not always effective, so small hedgehogs often suffer from attacks birds of prey, as well as agile badgers and ferrets. However, adult hedgehogs also sometimes fall into clawed paws.

But the white-breasted hedgehogs themselves terrify snails, slugs, earthworms, wood lice and beetles, which they enjoy dining on. They also do not refuse berries, eating strawberries, wild strawberries, raspberries and mulberries grown by summer residents. In the forest they feed on acorns, moss and mushrooms. In the north they have to eat lizards, small mammals and eggs of land birds.

The appearance of hedgehogs is so characteristic that it is quite difficult to confuse them with someone else. If they resemble anyone, it is only like porcupines, and even then only by the presence of spines. However, these animals are far from related; they belong to completely different phylogenetic branches. Porcupines are one of the families of rodents, and urchins are classified as their own order. Their closest relatives are shrews and moles. In addition, porcupines are herbivores, which cannot be said about the hedgehog, which eats everything that comes into its mouth.

The white-breasted hedgehog is similar to the common one, but its belly, chest and neck are much lighter than its back, and there is almost always a white spot on the chest. Moreover, it is more southern view, it lives in the middle zone, in the south of its European part, in the Southern Urals and the Caucasus. Prefers edges deciduous forests, steppe ravines, ravines, canal banks and forest belts. Only along the northern borders of its range can the white-breasted hedgehog be found together with its common brother. However, hybrids of these species are also known.

I EAT EVERYTHING. WHAT DO I SEE

The hedgehog is quite gluttonous: per day it eats up to 200 g of food, about a quarter of its weight. Its main diet consists of invertebrate animals: earthworms, insects and their larvae. The animal is able to extract food shallowly from underground, tearing with its front paws top layer soil. The hedgehog eats beetles, including such large ones as dung beetles and May beetles, and eats them whole, gnawing through hard chitin. When the opportunity arises, this prickly predator destroys the nests of mouse-like rodents and birds nesting on the ground.

Many poisons are practically harmless to the hedgehog, so he calmly eats hairy caterpillars gypsy moths, nun butterflies and blister beetles. He doesn't mind eating toads either. The poisonous skin secretions of these amphibians also do not bother him at all. There are even cases of hedgehogs eating vipers. In nature, apparently, this happens quite rarely, when animals meet literally nose to nose in the forest. The hedgehog quickly bites the snake wherever it needs to and, recoils, instantly curls up into a ball, exposing its sharp needles. A snake bite can only cause a slight discomfort in a hedgehog, nothing more. The fact is that his blood contains the protein erinacin, which neutralizes the poison to some extent. But if a snake bites a hedgehog several times and the concentration of toxin in the body is high, the animal may die.

TRUTH AND FICTION

There is probably no animal about which so many conjectures and myths do not exist. So, we all know from childhood that a hedgehog carries apples and mushrooms on its back, stocking up for the winter. However, in reality it does nothing of the kind. The hedgehog prefers animal food, and it does not need supplies for the winter at all: with the onset of cold weather, it goes into hibernation.

Many also believe that this animal can curl up into a ball and roll away from a predator. This myth is half true. A hedgehog can curl up, but cannot roll away. To escape, the hedgehog must turn around and stand on its paws.

Another fiction: the hedgehog is an excellent mousetrap. It is sometimes even called the prickly cat. Of course, he can eat a mouse, but only if it is sick, newborn or dead. It is beyond the power of the animal to catch a healthy, agile rodent with a lightning-fast reaction.

Often to attract hedgehogs to summer cottage plot people place a saucer of milk on the porch. It is believed to be the animal's favorite food. This myth comes at a cost to hedgehogs. The animal can indeed drink milk, but this will lead to serious gastrointestinal upset. In severe cases, the hedgehog may even die. All mammals consume milk only after birth; as adults they often lose the ability to break down lactose.

PINK PROTECTION

Main distinctive features hedgehogs have needles on their backs and a special dental system. All representatives of this family have a short body, a long muzzle and big ears. On their backs, under the skin, hedgehogs have a long muscle that helps them curl up into a ball. Depending on their mood, they can ruffle their needles or lower them, becoming smoother.

Sometimes they pull a prickly “hood” over their forehead.

When in danger, the hedgehog curls up into a ball, its needles exposed, and freezes. In most cases, this saves him from predators, but not always. So, sly fox rolls the curled up prickly ball to the nearest puddle or stream, it turns around in the water and becomes an easy prey. Large owls (eagle owls and owls) also catch hedgehogs without difficulty. They fly silently, the animal simply does not have time to curl up into a ball before it is overtaken by the claws of a feathered predator.

IT'S TIME FOR LOVE

In March, hedgehogs begin their rut. Several contenders come to the scent of the female; the males snort loudly, sniffle and squeak. The rivals stage real battles: they bite and push each other with needles. But it doesn't lead to serious injuries. The attention of the female is received by the most persistent and active male, who will be able to disperse all the admirers.

Pregnancy lasts 40 days. A week before giving birth, the female builds a nest for herself from moss, last year's leaves and dry grass in a secluded place under fallen trees, among bushes and brushwood.

In April, hedgehogs give birth to 5-7 cubs. Newborn animals are blind and deaf; they are covered with soft whitish needles, which become hard within a few hours. If the female is disturbed, she will move her hedgehogs in her teeth to another safe place. Until the age of one month, the mother feeds the cubs with milk. After 1.5-2 months, young hedgehogs leave their native nest and become independent. During the summer, the female gives only one offspring. Until the fall she needs to regain strength and accumulate subcutaneous fat, which the animal needs for wintering.

EVERYONE GO TO SLEEP

The active period of life for hedgehogs takes about 5-6 months. The rest of the time they sleep. For the winter, the hedgehog seeks shelter underground, at a depth of at least 1.5 m. These can be voids in the ground or abandoned holes of foxes or badgers. Sometimes the animal digs a shelter itself. A mistake in choosing a wintering place can cost him his life: dens located too close to the surface freeze, and the hedgehog dies.

A signal to the animal that it is time to retire is the abbreviation daylight hours and a decrease in daily temperature to 10-12 °C. Hedgehogs overwinter one at a time. The animal curls up into a tight ball, thus reducing heat loss. The hedgehog's body temperature drops from 33.7°C to 1.8°C, and the heart rate decreases to a minimum. In a state of hibernation, the animal can live without food for up to 8 months, while during the waking period it cannot tolerate hunger even for 10 days.

HEDGEHOG IN THE FOOD CHAIN

The hedgehog eats everything that catches its eye, preferring animal food. Its diet consists of insects and their larvae, worms, mollusks, and it can eat berries, acorns, fallen plums and apples. The animal can often be found on garbage heaps: it is attracted by the smell of waste. The hedgehog does not disdain carrion.

FOOD OF THE WHITE-CHEATED HEDGEHOG

EARTHWORM

Suborder Oligochaetes annelids, whose representatives live on all continents except Antarctica. They have an elongated body, divided by constrictions into separate ring segments covered with bristles. Earthworms- hermaphrodites. They feed on slightly decomposed plant residues and play an important role in the formation of a nutrient layer of soil-humus.

CHABIGLE

A genus of insects of the lamellar family. Widely distributed in Europe and Asia. The beetle is quite large, body length up to 32 mm, black or red-brown in color. The adult insect (imago) feeds on the leaves of trees and shrubs. The larvae are up to 5 cm, have a thick pale gray body with constrictions and three pairs of legs. They live in the soil and feed on the roots of various herbaceous and woody plants. The hedgehog eats adult beetles, gnawing hard chitin on the wings, and sometimes larvae if they are shallow underground.

SLUGS

Gastropods with a reduced shell, which is preserved on the dorsal part in the form of small scales. On the head there are tentacles on which there are sensory organs (eyes, organs of tactile and chemical senses). The skin epithelium secretes large number mucus, which prevents the body from drying out and promotes the movement of the animal. Slugs live in moist biotopes and often eat cultivated plants with succulent leaves.

GRASS FROG

The amphibian is from 70 to 100 mm in size, brown in color with dark speckles. During the mating period, the male is light gray in color and has a blue throat. It lives in damp meadows, in floodplains and forest edges, feeding on insects. The entire life of these amphibians passes on land; in small bodies of water they mate, lay eggs and overwinter. There are about six subspecies of grass frogs.

ENEMIES OF THE WHITE-CHEATED HEDGEHOG

COMMON FOX

A predatory mammal of the canine family, one of the largest species of foxes. Widely distributed throughout Russia. The color and size of the animal varies depending on the habitat: when moving to the north of the range, foxes become lighter and larger; in the south, the animals are small and not brightly colored. The fox is a predator, its diet consists of mouse-like rodents, hares, and birds, which it can catch on the ground. The animal has remarkable mental abilities.

FOREST POCKET

A characteristic representative of the mustelid family with a flexible, elongated body and short legs. For life, the ferret prefers small forest areas, light groves and forest edges. It feeds exclusively on animal food, obtaining rodents and birds from burrows and shelters, and destroys nests. Catch an adult healthy hedgehog The ferret is unable to do this; newborn hedgehogs, young and sick animals become its victims.

COMMON BADGER

Mammal of the mustelid family. Different characteristic shape body: it is a kind of wedge ending in a narrow elongated muzzle. The badger lives throughout almost all of Eurasia. It digs deep holes along the slopes of sandy hills, forest ravines and gullies, and many generations of badgers take part in their construction. Thanks to its long claws, the badger can easily deal with prickly hedgehogs.

OWL

One of the most common species of birds of prey from the owl family. He lives in North Africa, Europe and Asia. The eagle owl is the largest representative of owls: males reach a size of 65 cm, and females - 75 cm with a wingspan of up to 188 cm. It hunts exclusively in the dark, and takes a break around midnight. While hunting for terrestrial mammals, including hedgehogs, the eagle owl tracks them, gliding above the ground in its territory.

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).

Brief 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, sustainable northern border The range passes 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 edges river valleys, fieldsides, forest belts, settlements with private 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.

Sources of information:

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.