Long-eared Hedgehog
The long-eared hedgehog is native to the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean and some arid areas of East Asia.
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Location
Next on the list of types of hedgehogs is the long-eared hedgehog. The long-eared hedgehog is native to the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean and some arid areas of East Asia. It covers a very wide range across countries such as Libya and Egypt in the West to Mongolia in the East including the countries in-between such as Chinese Turkistan, Pakistan, Iran, Southern Russia, Northern Arabia and Asia Minor.
Diet
They are insectivores and consume crickets, Mario worms, cockroaches and mealworms. They can cover up to 9km in a night foraging for food.
What is also amazing about these creatures is that they can survive without food or water for about 10 weeks without eating or drinking, which normally occurs during the winter months when they tend to hibernate. During hibernation their heartbeat drops from 190 bests per minute to about 20 beats per minute.
Description
The long-eared hedgehog is noted because of its long ears and short spikes, which it prefers to release and then flee, rather than curling up into a ball as a form of defence. It is really fast, much more so than the common hedgehog. They are also better at climbing and are very active during the night.
Habitat
While it has a very wide range, it always prefers moderate climates as can be seen by the area it inhabits between Latitude 25-35°N often arid scrubland where they spend the day in burrows, little dens that they have created themselves or taken over from other animals. During the breeding season they will make the dens a little larger for their offspring.
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Interesting titbits
Though they are kept as pets they are a more difficult species than say the African Pygmy hedgehog as they have a more aggressive temperament and are less domesticated.
They are born without quills on their back as they are still soft though still embedded however these grow at a fantastic speed and 5 hours after birth they are already 4 times larger and their bodies are completely covered in quills within 2 weeks.
In order to mate the male stands vertical on his hind legs while the female lies on the floor with her legs spread out.
