We had a very special delivery on Christmas Day when Holly the long-eared hedgehog gave birth to two little hoglets!
Hedgehogs are born blind with a protective membrane covering their quills. This membrane dries and shrinks over the first few hours, after birth. The infants are born with quills beneath the skin, which look a lot like pimples. The spines begin to pass the skin after the mother has cleaned the babies and as they continue to grow and get older the hoglets eventually shed their baby spines (called “quilling”) and they are replaced with adult spines.
For the first few days I left Holly to bond with the prickly little pair and they spent all their time together in the nest. I therefore hadn't really had a chance to see them properly but today Holly carried the little ones over to get cosy under the heat lamp and I managed to snap this quick photo and get a closer look.
Holly arrived at Wee Critters from Longleat this past Autumn and joined our male, Henry (who many of you have met during our interactive animal education sessions.
We will continue to update you with photos and videos of Holly and the hoglets over the next few weeks and hopefully, in the future, this prickly pair will take part in our sessions to deliver important environmental education messages to schools and groups across Northern Ireland!
If you would like to book a visit from Wee Critters in 2022, get in touch today...a wild time awaits!
079 1278 5047
hello@weecritters.org
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