![]() ![]() ![]() Many toads and frogs are nocturnal And the in the insect world moths and glow or s, which are actually beetles, so very interesting if you are a hedgehog.Īt dawn and dusk crepuscular creatures including rabbits and many deer, join in the action. Then there are the birds, most notably owls of course. The hedgehog shares his nighttime world with other mammals including foxes, badgers, bats and some otters and deer. It’s all going on out there at night, and the hedgehog certainly doesn’t have the place to himself. ![]() What Other Nocturnal Creatures Do We Have in the UK? And it’s just another reason why hedgehogs don’t make good pets. It would certainly work for the Africa Pygmy Hedgehog in his native land. Although extreme heat isn’t an issue for the European hedgehogs (yet) other species of hedgehogs are spread over most of the planet and in hot countries sleeping through the day and being active in the cool of the night is a good strategy. Badgers who are the hedgehog’s main predator in the UK are also nocturnal. But today, for hedgehogs in Britain this isn’t a good strategy. The hedgehog evolved over 15 million years ago, it was certainly around at the time of the sabre-toothed tiger. There is a theory that early mammals may have evolved to be nocturnal to avoid major carnivorous predators like sabre-toothed tigers. So the hedgehog will have much less competition for its preferred food at night. And neither are many of our insectivorous birds and amphibians. The UK’s other primary insectivorous mammal and the hedgehog’s closest relation, the shrew, is not nocturnal. This could certainly be true of the hedgehog. It’s believed that some animals evolve to be active at night, so they have less competition for their prey. There are a few reasons why animals have evolved to be nocturnal. So as you can see, the night shift is a pretty busy time if you are a hedgehog. They also build nests and hibernacula at night. These habitats offer good chances of finding food and cover from predators.Īs well as all this eating hedgehogs court and mate at night (a very noisy business that you may have overheard). They prefer to travel through hedgerows, undergrowth and long grass. To gather all this food, they travel over quite a large area – up to a mile each night. They will eat up to 100 beetles and other invertebrates in one night. Hedgehogs need to eat a lot of food for their size. What they’re doing at night is mainly eating. Hedgehogs sleep in the day and attend to business at night. But have you ever wondered why they live this way? Are they especially adapted to life in the dark? What other creatures share their nighttime world and what does it mean if you see a hedgehog out in the daytime? Let’s find out. Hedgehogs are nocturnal, they go about their business at night and sleep in the daytime. ![]()
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