Animals prepare for cold season differently. Someone stocks for the winter, someone is warmed with winter fur, and some just decide to oversleep hard time of year. Including hedgehogs.
Why hedgehogs fall into hibernation
The hedgehog belongs to group of insectivorous. However, not only insects and their larvae, but also various invertebrates and also mice, frogs, lizards, snakes, baby birds enter its diet. And though the hedgehog occasionally dares to eat berry - another, all the same he eats animal food which cannot be got in the winter. As well as all insectivorous, hedgehogs are very gluttonous and without food can live only several days. For the winter they do not stock, an exit one - to have cold season in a condition of a deep sleep with delay of physiological processes. From the middle of fall the hedgehogs begin to fall into hibernation gradually. Process this long, animals fall asleep for long term not at once, short-term catalepsy are replaced by the wakefulness periods.
It is interesting that the hedgehogs who are contained in bondage fall asleep for all winter too in spite of the fact that indoors where they contain, rather warmly, and food is provided to them. Reason for that their imperfect thermal control.
As the hedgehog prepares for hibernation
Not to die during hibernation, it is necessary to be prepared for it well. Three main factors provide to a hedgehog a favorable wintering:
- accumulation of fat for the summer period,
- change of indumentum (molt),
- the good place for hibernation.
The whole summer a hedgehog diligently ""works"" - in the period of abundance of forages reserves fat to the forthcoming wintering, that is eats. The animal who saved up not enough fat stocks will not postpone a wintering. Fat is saved both under skin, and in internals. It is spent gradually, during hibernation the hedgehogs lose the most part of weight. The hedgehog who wakened in the spring is very hungry and hurries to fill a stomach quickly.
From the middle of summer at hedgehogs there passes the molt, summer indumentum changes on winter, more dense and rigid. The hedgehog winters, having curled up in a ball, covering the most vulnerable parts of a body for cold - pads, a stomach and a muzzle.
For hibernation the hedgehogs have to find a suitable shelter. It has to be the deep, protected from all directions dwelling which is filled up with the snow keeping heat minimum in the winter. Zoologists do not know for sure, the small animal prepares for himself a den, uses others holes or finds natural deepenings - niches under snags, foozles. It is doubtful that the hedgehog independently digs a hole, his pads are a little adapted for such work. The hedgehog warms the future bedroom a moss and dry leaves.
Body temperature of the sleeping hedgehog strongly goes down, the number of warm reductions slows down. The condition of a winter dream at hedgehogs can proceed up to six months so life of a small animal depends on correctly chosen place for a wintering.
Long winter thaw and snowless winters are pernicious for hedgehogs. The hedgehog who woke up ahead of time does not find some food, most often freezes and perishes.