Hedgehog Facts

[nemomen]

Fact, The Quilly Peril: Global Menace may be part of the reason hedgehogs are still banned as pets in CA and probably some other states also.

[MarkDow]

[cleveremi]

I think of hedgehogs (now) as cute, polite, little princesses followed around by small subservient monkeys.

But, in the wild, do they use their quills to defend themselves? Might they hurt a person who was mistreating them, or even accidentally? Or do they just ball up and wait it out?

[nemomen]

Wild hedgies mostly hide out in burrows during the day, but if they feel threatened they quickly quill up into full balls you would definitely not want to touch. When they’re relaxed, the muscles on the mantle their quills are attached to are relaxed and it’s not an issue, but when they’re quilling, they cross-brace the quills against each other at an angle so they’re stiff, pointing out, and the tips are needle sharp. They also hiss when they quill up and if whatever’s bothering them doesn’t leave, they do a popping move that makes the jumping needle-ball extra scary/painful to be near. So if they quill up, they’re <edit> not </edit> going to kill anyone, but they can draw blood if you’re really careless.

Happily, Her Highness is acclimated to people, so she doesn’t really quill often, and if she does, you can scoop under her (carefully), and rock her a bit and blow towards her nose so she gets your smell and she’ll relax. Perdita’s never gone into a full ball, though Penelope did.

[cleveremi]

Thanks! I wasn’t ever going to be mean to one anyway, but now I know more. I didn’t realize the quills were so sharp. Maybe someday I’ll get to meet a hedgie in person. For now I’ll settle for following Her Highness on twitter.

[chgoliz]

@nemomen

So if they quill up, they’re going to kill anyone,

I think you might want to insert a “not” in that sentence!

[nemomen]

Thanks - I’ve fixed it. I started to wonder if there has ever been a human death caused by a hedgehog. Hard to find anything, but apparently some hedgies can transfer Salmonella, and there’s at least one case of someone dying from it, so the Quilly Peril is real.

Death linked to pet hedgehog

[anon26304152]

Good ol’ Spokane. Or the “Big City” when I was growing up. Not surprised a place as rough and tumble as that would have gangs of Hedgehog Hoodlums roaming around. Roughing up the elderly. No good will come of those kind.

[nemomen]

Fact: Hedgehogs are readily trained to perform many tricks.

[nemomen]

Fact: Her Highness’s penmanship lessons have been going quite well.

[nemomen]

Fact: hedgehogs are more talented surfers than they are given credit for.

[nemomen]

Curious fact: the WPA made a series of posters encouraging hedgehog tourism.

[Nightflyer]

Look at this poll I found at the bottom of Amazon’s site today:

Sounds like the Wee Princesses are winning the Internets!

[nemomen]

Yes! ­

[nemomen]

An interesting music history fact - here is the original artwork for Joy Division’s 1979 “Unknown Pleasures” album. Sadly, this version was rejected by the artists and replaced with the better known album cover.

[anon26304152]

Didn’t they drop Hedgehogs will tear us apart as well from this album only to rewrite for a later album?

[nemomen]

A tome of terrifying tales of quill-raising horror.

[anon26304152]

ahhh, the classics…

Once upon a hedgehog dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten quills,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a snuffling
As of some one gently sniffing, nosing at my chamber door.
'Tis some visitor,' I muttered,sniffing at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more

[nemomen]

And another…

[GulliverFoyle]

@nemomen

Fact: hedgehogs are more talented surfers than they are given credit for.

https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/boingboing/original/3X/6/c/6c42048d8d9f07addb9056b7271d368065eabcd0.jpg

Radical!