Have you ever wondered what a hedgehog looks like without any spikes? Well meet Spud, the spineless hedgehog and read these awesome facts!
Now to me that looks a fur-less rat, with a big back, that’s had a fight with a cheese grater… and lost, badly… or a very old potato!
Meet Spud
The staff at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Buckinghamshire have looked after him since August 2008 and have carried out many skin tests, but found no solution yet.
They are unsure if it was born like this or if the problem occurred later in its life.
The hedgehog is roughly three years old and its behavior is the same as normal hedgehogs.
Founder Les Stocker said, “The fear is that in winter it would get too cold for him, so we can’t risk releasing him”. A spine was found under the skin, which means the hedgehog is still able to grow spines. So it’s possible that the hedgehogs’ condition was not there from birth.
Since this time, Spud has been looked after well and is finally started to return to normal health and his spikes have actually started growing again!
Here are five random facts about normal looking hedgehogs that you probably didn’t know:
5 Fast Facts About Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs can live up to five years.
A hedgehog’s eyesight is very poor, but their sense of smell and hearing is extremely good.
Hedgehogs generally eat insects, such as earthworms and slugs, and sometimes eat the eggs of ground nesting birds.
Hedgehogs are Britain’s only spiny mammal. Well most hedgehogs anyway!
Hedgehogs are covered in roughly six thousand spines, which are brown with white tips.
Hmm, I realized how many times I have said the word hedgehog in this post, and I tried to reword it so I didn’t say it as much… but it’s an article about hedgehogs, so it’s just something you’re going to have to live with!
