Hedgehogs: Worm Scare, Leaf Lover and Spiky Fur

In autumn at dusk, they rustle through fallen leave looking for insects or worms - sometimes they even enjoy a frog or a snake. Shuffling through the underwood, they are not exactly quiet. During antiquity, hedgehogs were kept as pets, and medieval literature regards them as cunning, sly and sometimes even demonic. The use of pesticides, the decline in insect populations and clinically tidy gardens without piles of leaves are destroying their habitat. Hedgehogs no longer find enough food and subsequently starve. They are unable to prepare for hibernation and freeze to death in sub-zero temperatures. Since October 2024, the Western European hedgehog has therefore been added to the Red List of Threatened Species.