European Hedgehog Species Guide: Appearance, Diet, Habitat, Behavior, Stats, And Conservation Status

Species Guide: European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
Family: Erinaceidae

The European hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus, is a small, spiny mammal native across much of Europe (from Iberia and Italy up into Scandinavia and throughout the British Isles). It is a familiar garden visitor and an important insectivorous predator in many ecosystems.

Appearance

European hedgehogs are compact, rounded mammals covered on their backs with stiff spines (modified hairs). They have a pointed face, small eyes, short legs, and a short tail. Colouration varies from pale brown to darker brown or almost black; underparts are furred rather than spiny. When threatened, they roll into a tight ball with spines erect, an effective defense against many predators.

Diet

Primarily insectivorous, European hedgehogs feed mostly on invertebrates: earthworms, beetles, caterpillars, slugs, snails, millipedes, and other ground invertebrates. They are opportunistic and will also take frogs, small rodents, bird eggs, carrion, and sometimes fallen fruit, making them omnivorous insectivores rather than strict specialists. Their foraging relies heavily on smell and hearing.

Habitat

Hedgehogs are habitat generalists found in woodlands, meadows, hedgerows, farmland margins, and suburban gardens. They favour areas with ground cover (leaf litter, hedges, rough grass) for nesting and foraging, and benefit from connected gardens and green corridors that allow movement between feeding and nesting sites. Urban and rural landscape fragmentation, intensive farming, and loss of hedgerows are important threats because they reduce suitable habitat and connectivity.

Note that this map is an illustrative indication of geographic distribution.

Behavior

Activity and social behavior

European hedgehogs are mostly nocturnal and largely solitary outside the breeding season. They move with a slow, deliberate gait, frequently pausing to sniff and investigate. Home-range size varies widely by habitat and food availability.

Calls and sounds

Hedgehogs produce a surprising variety of sounds: soft snuffles and grunts while foraging, huffing and snorting commonly during courtship or to show annoyance, chirps from very young hoglets, and high-pitched screams when severely threatened or injured. They may also make purring-like or singing noises during courtship. These vocalizations are short-range signals used in courtship, parent–young interactions, and warning.

Reproduction & life cycle

Hibernation: in colder parts of their range, hedgehogs hibernate through winter (commonly October/November → March/April), dropping body temperature and metabolic rate. Hibernation timing varies with local climate, individual condition, and food reserves; individuals may wake and change nests periodically.

Breeding season: typically spring–summer (in many places mid-April to August), with females capable of producing one or sometimes two litters per year in favorable conditions. Males may mate with multiple females.

Gestation & young: gestation lasts roughly 35–58 days; litters average about 3–6 hoglets. Newborns are blind with quills enclosed in a membrane that dries and falls away after birth. Mothers raise the young alone; hoglets become independent in late summer.

Biometrics

Natural Predators

Major natural threats vary by region. European badgers are often cited as the single most important predator and can significantly suppress local hedgehog numbers where badgers are common. Other predators or causes of mortality include foxes, owls, mustelids, large birds (taking hoglets), domestic dogs and cats (particularly for juveniles), and many hedgehogs die from road traffic collisions. Predation is compounded by habitat loss, which reduces escape and nesting opportunities.

Conservation Status

The IUCN assessed the Western/European hedgehog as Near Threatened¹ in 2024 after evidence of substantial declines (in some areas >30% over recent decades). Key threats are habitat loss and fragmentation (intensive agriculture and urban development), pesticide use (reducing prey and direct poisoning), road mortality, and some predation pressures. Several countries list hedgehogs as a conservation priority, and the species is protected under European agreements; local conservation actions focus on creating habitat connectivity, reducing pesticide use, road mitigation, and public awareness (e.g., “hedgehog highways” through garden fences). Continued monitoring and coordinated conservation efforts are recommended to halt declines.

U.K.
Conservation Status

Global
Conservation Status

Practical tips for helping hedgehogs

• Leave small gaps (13 x 13 cm or so) in garden fences so hedgehogs can move between gardens.
• Provide natural nesting sites (log/leaf piles) and shallow dishes of water and (occasionally) suitable hedgehog food; avoid milk and bread.
• Avoid using slug pellets/pesticides and check bonfires and compost heaps before lighting.
• Drive carefully at night and create wildlife-friendly road crossings where feasible.

CITATIONS

1. International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List Assessment [Accessed 04/10/2025] ↩︎

References

Macdonald, D.W. and Credo Reference, distributor (2014) The Princeton encyclopedia of mammals. [Enhanced Credo edition]. Edited by D.W. Macdonald. Boston, Massachusetts: Credo Reference. [Accessed 04/10/2025]