Imagine: a summer evening, you step out onto the porch with a cup of tea and suddenly see a tiny, gray, spiky ball scurrying along the path. A hedgehog! In your garden. This is not just a pleasant encounter. It's a whole event for a garden enthusiast and a naturalist. But what to do next? Be happy, feed it, or gently shoo it away? Let's figure it out. Who is the garden hedgehog Most often, in gardens in the middle latitudes of Russia, you can find the common hedgehog. This creature weighs from 600 grams to one and a half kilograms and can grow up to 30 centimeters in length. Its main weapon and protection are its spines, of which there can be up to five thousand. Each spine is hollow inside, with a muscle that raises it in case of danger. In a calm state, the spines lie along the body, and the hedgehog looks like a fluffy creature. But if a dog or a fox comes close, the hedgehog instantly rolls into a ball, the spines stand on end, and it's painful to touch it. The hedgehog is a nocturnal animal. During the day, it sleeps in a secluded place: under tree roots, in a pile of twigs, or in an old burrow. And as night falls, it goes out to hunt. This is where the most interesting begins. Contrary to children's fairy tales, the hedgehog does not carry apples and mushrooms on its spines. This is a myth. In fact, it is a predator. Its natural diet consists of beetles, caterpillars, slugs, earthworms, snails. And that's why the hedgehog is the best friend of a gardener. Why is a hedgehog in the garden good If you are fighting snails that eat cabbage and strawberries, the hedgehog will be your ally. In one night, it can eat up to 200 grams of insects and mollusks. The Colorado beetle? The hedgehog doesn't turn its nose up at it either. The potato bug? It's on the menu too. The larvae of the May beetle that chew on roots? The hedgehog digs them out of the ground with amazing perseverance. So this spiky creature is a natural sanitarian who works for free and around t ... Read more