Spud The Spineless Hedgehog

Have you ever wondered what a hedgehog looks like without any spikes? No? Well neither have I. But while I’m on the subject, I will show you. Even though you’ve probably already seen the pic before you read this.





Now to me that looks a furless rat, with a big back, that’s had a fight with a cheese grater... and lost, badly... or a very old potato!



Well this hedgehogs name is Spud. The staff at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Buckinghamshire have been looking after him since last August and have carried out many different skin tests, but found no solution yet. They are unsure if it was born like this or if the problem occurred later on in its life. The hedgehog is roughly three years old and its behaviour 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.



Here are five random facts about normal looking hedgehogs that you probably didn’t know:



1. Hedgehogs can live up to five years.



2. A hedgehog’s eyesight is very poor, but their sense of smell and hearing is extremely good.



3. Hedgehogs generally eat insects, such as earthworms and slugs, and sometimes eat the eggs of ground nesting birds.



4. Hedgehogs are Britain's only spiny mammal. Well most hedgehogs anyway!



5. Hedgehogs are covered in roughly six thousand spines, which are brown with white tips.



Hmm, I realised 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 a post about hedgehogs, so it’s just something you’re gonna have to live with.