8 Fun Facts About Hedgehogs

1. Hedgehogs are illegal in MAINE, ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, GEORGIA, PENNSYLVANIA, HAWAII, and NEW YORK CITY.

2. Immune to poisons in some plants, hedgehogs sometimes eat those plants then lick their spines to spread the plant’s poison, protecting themselves from predators.

3. The name for a baby hedgehog is a hoglet.

4. There are 17 different species of hedgehogs, none of which are native to North America. 

5. They have poor eyesight but their sense of smell and hearing make up for it.

6. A hedgehog can have up to 8,000 spines.

7. When German settlers got to America and found no hedgehogs, they turned to the similar-enough groundhog for their winter-weather predictions.

8. Their name isn’t a flattering one but is thanks to their porcine eating etiquette. As they move through the hedges looking for something to eat, they make a grunting noise reminiscent of a pig. Hence, they are the hogs of the hedgerows; otherwise known as the hedgehog.