Hedgehogs in culture

As animals native to Europe and Africa, hedgehogs hold a place in European folklore.[1][2]

In most European countries, hedgehogs are believed to be a hard-working no-nonsense animal. This partially results from the folk belief that hedgehogs collect apples and mushrooms and carry them to their secret storage.

It is unclear exactly how old this belief is, though the Roman author Pliny the Elder mentions hedgehogs gathering grapes by this method in his Naturalis Historia. In medieval bestiaries and other illuminated manuscripts dating from at least the 13th century onwards, hedgehogs are shown rolling on and impaling fruit to carry back to their dens. In fact, however, hedgehogs do not gather food to store for later consumption, relying on their deposited fat to survive hibernation. Nor is apple included in their usual diet (it has been suggested, however, that the hedgehogs may use juice of wild apples in order to get rid of parasites, similar to anting). The image remains an irresistible one to modern illustrators. Therefore, hedgehogs are often portrayed carrying apples – partially, to make them look cuter.

Hedgehogs are often pictured as fond of milk; as late as the 19th century, some English villagers even believed that these creatures would suck milk out of cows' udders.[3] In reality, however, hedgehogs are lactose-intolerant.

Hedgehogs are also often seen in pictures with an autumn-themed background, since the animal hibernates in piles of leaves. This also adds to the cute reputation of hedgehogs. In Great Britain, however, the human habit of lighting bonfires to celebrate Bonfire Night on 5 November has led to an increased risk to hedgehogs, who often choose to sleep in the piles of wood accumulated in gardens and parks beforehand. Television messages now remind viewers who might be lighting bonfires to check them first for the presence of hibernating hedgehogs.

During the 1970s and 1980s, hedgehogs were one of the poster animals for environment activists through Europe. A lot of hedgehogs were killed by traffic, and since the hedgehog already had an aura of a cute little friendly animal, the choice was nearly perfect.

In a Veps legend, the (female) hedgehog appears in a creation myth. According to it, early on, there was no dry land; the entire world was just a big lake. It was a giant hedgehog who brought soil and sand with its needles, creating dry land.[1]

A hedgehog plays a role in a Lithuanian and Latvian creation story as well: when God made heaven and earth, he did not take good measurements, so the earth was made larger than the heaven; on the hedgehog's wise suggestion, God squeezed the earth, so that it would fit into the heaven. (In some version of the legend, the process of "shrinking" the earth resulted in the creation of mountain ranges). To reward the clever hedgehog, God equipped him with a suite of needles.[1] A similar legend is attested among the Banat Bulgarians and among Romanians as well.[2] [4]

The wisdom of the hedgehog is presented in other folk legend in the Balkans as well. In a Bulgarian legend, the Sun decided to marry the Moon, and invited all the animals to the wedding. The hedgehog was the only one who failed to appear. The Sun went to look for the hedgehog, and found him gnawing on a stone. When the Sun inquired what he was doing, the hedgehog explained: "I am learning to eat stones. Once you marry, you'll have many Sun children born to you, and when they all shine in the sky, everything will burn, and there will be nothing to eat". The Sun then decided to call off the wedding, and the world's inhabitants were saved from starvation.[2][5]

In the Balkan Slavic and Belarusian folklore, the wise hedgehog (along with the tortoise) sometimes appears as the animal capable of finding the raskovnik, a magic plant that could be used to open locks and to find hidden treasures.[2][4][6]

In a number of Balkan (Bulgarian,[7] Macedonian,[8] [9] Greek[10]) folk songs the (male) hedgehog often appears romantically interested in a (female) tortoise. His advances are usually unwelcome, the tortoises often resorting to legal means to deal with the harasser.[7] [11]

The common American holiday Groundhog Day originated in Ancient Rome as Hedgehog Day and is still celebrated as such through much of the world. There are no native hedgehogs in the United States, so the early settlers chose the groundhog as a substitute.

Hedgehogs remain largely unseen in modern-day American culture. On a number of occasions British educational programs have been revoiced to refer to hedgehogs as porcupines (at least one of such examples being Bob the Builder). The Wacky Wheels video game makes humorous use of hedgehogs as projectiles, and they are also seen reading the newspaper while sitting on the toilet in the middle of the race course.

One notable exception is Sonic the Hedgehog, the video game character created by SEGA.

May has been designated Hedgehog Month by the International Hedgehog Association.

New Zealand's McGillicuddy Serious Party were unsuccessful in their attempt to get a hedgehog elected to Parliament.

Also in New Zealand, hedgehogs feature in the Bogor cartoon by Burton Silver, via which they also appeared on a postage stamp.

A hedgehog transformer is an early type of electrical transformer designed to work at audio frequencies (AF). They resemble hedgehogs in size, color and shape, and were used in the first part of the 20th century. (See http://www.telephonecollecting.org/hedgehog.html)

Pork hedgehogs, with slivered almond quills

In some supermarkets in the UK, a type of speciality loaf named Hedgehog Bread can be found for sale. The loaf has a hard top crust shaped before baking into a series of small spikes, resembling a hedgehog.

A "hedgehog cake" recipe appears in English cookbooks as early as the 18th century.[12]

"Hedgehogs" may also be created by moulding ground meat in a teardrop shape, embedding pastry slivers or slivered almonds in the surface to resemble quills, and adding eyes and ears of peppercorns, olives, or whole almonds. The technique dates back to at least 1390,[13] and was referenced in an episode of Two Fat Ladies.