European hedgehog

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European hedgehog[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Erinaceomorpha
Family: Erinaceidae
Subfamily: Erinaceinae
Genus: Erinaceus
Species: E. europaeus
Binomial name
Erinaceus europaeus
Linnaeus, 1758
European hedgehog whole range
European hedgehog native range

The European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus: Linnaeus, 1758), or common hedgehog is a hedgehog species found in western Europe, from Spain and Italy northwards into Scandinavia.[3] It is a generally common and widely distributed species that can survive across a wide range of habitat types. It is also a well-known species, and is a favourite in European gardens, both for its endearing appearance and insectivorous habits. Whilst populations are currently stable across much of its range, it is thought to be declining severely in the UK.[4][5]



E. europaeus has a generalised body structure with unspecialised limb girdles.[6] The animal appears brownish with most of its body covered by up to 6,000 brown and white spines.[7] Length of head and body is ~160 mm at weaning, increasing to 260mm or more in large adults. Has a short tail, typically 20-30mm.[8] Weight increases from around 120g at weaning to > 1100g in adulthood. The maximum recorded weight is 2,000 g (4.4 lb), though few wild specimens exceed 1,600 g (3.5 lb) even in autumn.[9] Adult summer weight is typically around 800g.[10] Males tend to be slightly larger than females, but sex differences in body weight are overshadowed by enormous seasonal variation.[8]

E. europaeus is unlike any other creature across most of its range. Where it co-exists with the Northern white-breasted hedgehog, the two species are difficult to distinguish in the field, the latter having a white spot on its chest.(Erinaceus roumanicus)[11] According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this species is probably the largest species of hedgehog and is possibly the heaviest member of the Erinaceomorpha order, although the similarly-weighted moonrat can attain a considerably greater length.[12]

Colour variation[edit]

Blonde hedgehog








Longevity and mortality[edit]

European hedgehogs may live to ten years of age, although the average life expectancy is three years. Starvation is the most common cause of death, usually occurring during hibernation. If alarmed, the animal will roll into a ball to protect itself. Many potential predators are repelled by its spines, but predation does occur. Remains of hedgehogs have been found in the stomachs of European badgers, red foxes and pine martens. A large portion of these may be from hedgehog carcasses, especially road-kill. However, hedgehogs tend to be absent from areas where badgers are numerous. Golden eagles and Eurasian eagle-owls are habitually predators of this species and may even prefer them as prey, such as on the Swedish island of Gotland. The owl, after grabbing the hedgehog by its face, tends to skin the mammal's prickly back with its talons before consumption.[15]





Hedgehogs are most abundant within the gardens, parks and amenity land close to or within human settlements.[20] They are generally scarce in areas of coniferous woodland, mashes and moorland, probably because of a lack of suitable sites and materials for the construction of winter nests (or hibernacula), which have specific requirements.[7]



In Denmark[23] and Poland,[24] hedgehogs are protected by law. It is illegal to capture or hurt them, but it is accepted to house underweight hedgehogs found out during winter.


Status in the UK[edit]

Population size[edit]

An estimate of 36.5 million by Burton[26] was based on extrapolating up from a density of 2.5 animals/ha (one per acre), but this was based on limited data and is probably an overestimate. A more recent estimate of 1,550,000 in Great Britain[27] (England 1,100,000, Scotland 310,000, Wales 140,000) is more reliable, but still has a high degree of uncertainty as it is based on very limited information about hedgehog density estimates for different habitat types.[3] Given this figure, and more firmly established rates of decline,[5] it is now thought likely that there are fewer than a million hedgehogs in Great Britain.[28]

Population status[edit]

In 2007 the hedgehog was classified a Biodiversity Action Plan ‘priority’ species in the UK, largely in response to negative trends identified in national surveys such as Mammals on Roads survey,[29] run by People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), that found an annual decline in counts of road casualties of around 7% from 2001 to 2004.[30][31] Historic data from the National Gamebag Census suggest a steady decline between 1960 and 1980.[32] Evidence from a questionnaire in 2005 and 2006 also supported an ongoing decline, with almost half of ~20,000 participants in PTES' Hogwatch survey[33] reporting the impression that there were fewer hedgehogs than there were five years earlier.[34]


Pest status[edit]

This species has become a serious pest in areas where it has been introduced outside of its native range. One such location is the Western Isles of Scotland, where introduced hedgehogs eat the eggs of ground-nesting waders such as Common Snipe, Dunlin, Common Redshank and Northern Lapwing. It is also considered a pest in New Zealand where it preys upon various native fauna.[37]

See also[edit]


  4. ^ IUCN 'red list' Erinaceus europaeus
  11. ^ IUCN 'red list' Erinaceus roumanicus
  21. ^ Hedgehogs join 'protection' list. BBC News (2007-08-27). Retrieved on 2012-12-29.
  22. ^ UK List of Priority Species. Biodiversity Action Plan.
  23. ^ Pindsvin. The Forest and Nature Department of DenMark
  25. ^ "Hedgehog". Ensembl Genome Browser. Retrieved 11 June 2007. 
  29. ^ Mammals on Roads survey, PTES: more information.
  31. ^ JNCC 'priority' species pages: Erinaceus europaeus.
  33. ^ HogwatchSurvey Report, PTES and BHPS.
  35. ^ Wembridge, D. (2011) The State of Britain's Hedgehogs. A PTES & BHPS publication.

Further reading[edit]


External links[edit]