🦔 Hedgehog
Also known as: Erinaceus europaeus
A popular myth says hedgehogs drink milk. In fact, milk is bad for them.
Hedgehog is a small spiny mammal that eats insects and lives in Europe, Asia and Africa. Like all mammals, a mother hedgehog feeds her young on her own milk. But cow’s milk is harmful to adult hedgehogs — this is one of the best-known everyday mistakes. The image of a hedgehog drinking milk from a saucer comes from fairy tales and cartoons.
Hedgehogs digest lactose poorly: cow’s milk gives them indigestion and diarrhoea, which is especially dangerous for young animals in autumn, before hibernation. Bread is no good either — it provides no nutrients. Animal welfare organisations advise leaving a shallow dish of clean water in the garden and, if you want to feed a hedgehog, meaty cat or dog food or dry food.
The milk myth persists partly because hedgehogs readily drink it. But what an animal likes is not always good for it.
How it connects to milk
🦔 Hedgehog → myth → 🥛 Milk
Links
- Belongs to
- 🔬 Mammal
- Myth
- 🥛 Milk
- Related to
- 🐈 Cat and a saucer of milk
- Part of
- 🐾 Other mammals
Frequently asked questions
Can you give hedgehogs milk?
No: hedgehogs digest lactose poorly, and cow’s milk gives them diarrhoea.
What can I feed a hedgehog in my garden?
Meaty cat or dog food, dry food, and a shallow dish of clean water.
Where does the myth that hedgehogs drink milk come from?
From fairy tales, cartoons and old advice; current guidance from animal welfare groups refutes it.