In cartoons, they show how a hedgehog collects mushrooms, apples, and leaves on its spines. But how does it remove them later, since it has short legs? Maybe a female hedgehog helps it?
It doesn't, because it doesn't carry them there.
- The prevailing notion that hedgehogs carry apples and mushrooms on their spines for food is a myth, - says PhD in Biology Olga ZHEREBTSOVA. - Hedgehogs are insectivorous mammals, and their diet usually consists of various invertebrates: earthworms, snails, slugs, beetles and their larvae, etc. I have not encountered any information in the scientific literature about carrying apples and mushrooms on their spines. There has also been no description of how hedgehogs attach them to their spiny armor. So there is no need for them to remove them.
In general, a hedgehog does not store food, and there is no necessity for it to carry anything on its spines. Once it finds a bug, it eats it immediately. It uses its spines solely for protection against predators, curling up into a ball when necessary. No matter from which side an attacker approaches, it will inevitably run into the spines.
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