There are a lot of conjectures and mocking prejudices on this score. However, everything is much more prosaic and absolutely safe for prickly rodents. But even in early childhood, every inquisitive mind wanted to know how hedgehogs reproduce? Today we will stick our noses into the intimate life of the common hedgehog, which is found throughout almost the entire territory of our country.
Sawtooths
Many of the inhabitants of the Earth are decorated with horns, clad in shells or covered with thorns.
These are, for example, turtles, crocodiles, a significant part of crustaceans and insects, sea urchins and stars, lizards - molochs, fish - pufferfish and many, many others.
All the animals listed above are born from eggs, eggs, or, such as crustaceans, insects or sea urchins, acquire spiny shells after a whole series of various transformations.
But even among the higher animals, whose children emerge from the womb of the mother, there are many horned, prickly, clad in armor...
Everyone probably knows that sheep, goats, cows and elephants develop horns and tusks a few months or years after birth.
How are the others born? After all, nature cannot allow each birth to pose a danger to the mother’s life. Here are some examples.
Hedgehogs
Many, many people tried to pick up our ordinary hedgehog. And what tricks do you have to resort to in order to avoid getting your hands stabbed!
And hedgehogs are born naked and smooth.
After a few hours, small bumps appear on the skin of the hedgehog, then they burst and small, soft needles appear.
How hedgehogs and armadillos are born
A little more time will pass - and the needles will harden, turning into formidable thorns. And a one-day-old hedgehog is just as difficult to pick up as its parents.
Armadillos
South America is home to amazing creatures called armadillos.
These slow-moving animals are constantly busy searching for food and, at the slightest danger, curl up into a ball. It's rare that a predator can bite through their powerful armor.
There are many mysteries in the life of armadillos. Well, for example, these are the only animals that always give birth to either two or four babies and always all of the same sex, either males or females.
How hedgehogs and armadillos are born
It has been proven that the offspring of armadillos are identical twins. Well, what about the shell?
Each little armadillo has a soft shell at birth and cannot harm its mother.
A few hours will pass and it will harden and turn into real armor.
Pangolins
The tropical forests of Africa and Asia are home to strange lizard creatures - pangolins, very similar to animated fir cones.
How hedgehogs and armadillos are born
The offspring is born with a full set of scales, only very small ones. With age, the scales grow.
How hedgehogs and armadillos are born
The baby pangolin does not leave its mother for a long time, clinging to her tail. This additional weight, however, does not prevent an adult female from even climbing trees.
Sawtooths
And here is an example from the underwater world: sawfish and sawfish. These viviparous fish are armed with a unique weapon - a saw.
Pilonos
It was previously believed that a fish, bursting into a school of smaller inhabitants of the ocean, chops right and left with its weapon, and then starts eating.
In fact, the saw of these fish serves as a kind of shovel for digging out small fish and invertebrates from the mud.
Saw-nosed sawbill
Small sawfowl are also armed with a saw, only during childbirth it is covered with a kind of cover.
Video: A hedgehog came from the forest to visit.
The Hedgehog Romance
There is no escape from nature, so romantic relationships among hedgehogs, like all normal animals, occur in the spring. After sleeping all winter, hedgehogs go outside. Animals that have had a good snack begin to be drawn to search for their soul mate. The search for a wife is so intense that there are often not enough of them for everyone and hedgehog tournaments begin for the possession of a beautiful clawed paw.
The fights of these cute prickly animals are worthy of a Tarantino film. Males fight fiercely: making snorting and wheezing sounds, hedgehogs do not hesitate in choosing a means to injure their opponent. They bite, they scratch. In some cases, they may even squeak.
However, despite all the cinematic nature of the fights, the hedgehogs cause virtually no damage to each other. The defeated simply shamefully retreats.
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INSTEAD OF AN EPIGRAPH: The hedgehog is a mysterious beast. On the one hand there is a needle, and on the other hand there is always a warm place for his beloved...
INTRODUCTION: “How do hedgehogs reproduce?!” This is a question that has been tormenting many for a long time. And many have their own, “special” opinion on this matter. Some generally consider the problem of hedgehog reproduction to be “the most acute problem in world zoology.”
In any case, “it’s a no brainer” :-)) that this process is not easy.
A significant part of the guest book is devoted to discussion of this Important issue. What versions were offered by site visitors... Almost all hypotheses are interesting, and many are funny.
The rummaged literature (both specialized and fiction) does not provide any clear answer to this burning question of our time. The most cynical answer is given by the “Big Encyclopedic Dictionary”: “Hedgehogs are viviparous mammals...” (the ellipsis is cynical).
JOKE ON THE TOPIC: Three students are taking exams. They were given the first task: the first two sat and suffered, smoked, wrote something, and the third sat and folded his palms this way and that, then after half an hour, he wrote something on a piece of paper in a minute and handed it in.
The second task - the first two had already given up the crib sheets, they were tearing their hair out, they were writing answers for three hours, and the third sat there the whole time, twirling his palms and at the very end, in a couple of minutes, he wrote something and handed it in. Finally, the last, third question - the first two no longer smoke, do not drink, do not tear out their hair, but are simply in a deep faint, and the third is still sitting, twirling his hands, then after a few hours she wrote something in ten minutes and passed . After checking the works: the first two got C grades, the third got A+! Well, the first two students, naturally, came to him: “How did you do it, you just sat and twirled your hands?!” The third will turn his palms this way and that and at the same time answer: “Yes, this is all nonsense! I’m wondering how hedgehogs reproduce!”
