While hedgehogs are known for their cute faces and tendency to curl up into a ball, some people may wonder whether they are intelligent and smart too. After all, knowing how smart and intelligent an animal is is a crucial topic pet owners need to know before adopting an animal. In this blog post, we will explore the topic of hedgehog intelligence and smartness and examine whether these creatures possess the cognitive abilities commonly associated with intelligence.
What Is The Meaning Of Intelligent And Smart?
Each animal is unique and possesses some qualities you might not find in others. Animal intelligence is not a straight line and cannot easily be calculated. So in order to determine whether hedgehogs are intelligent and smart, we must first ask ourselves what constitutes intelligence and smartness. What do these terms actually mean? According to Merriam-Webster, “Intelligence” is the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations, while” Smart” is having or showing a high degree of mental ability.
Now that we know the definition of both terms, the question we shall ask ourselves now is, How do we choose the criteria that should be used to gauge hedgehogs’ intelligence and smartness levels? All animals are different, so we can’t use the same standards to evaluate how intelligent and smart a dolphin and hedgehog are. That will be totally unfair and unjustified.
However, if we go with the definitions above, we can dutifully state that hedgehogs are intelligent and smart. As animals, they can adapt to their environments, fend for themselves against predators, and forage for food. Basically, hedgehogs possess the necessary skills to survive, and that’s why they are not yet extinct. Nevertheless, there are other yardsticks we will use for calculating the intelligence of a hedgehog.
And to quantify this, we shall be taking a deep dive into some of the qualities of a hedgehog to find a definite answer to these questions.
Behaviors
It’s important to examine hedgehogs’ natural behaviors in order to understand their intelligence levels.
Communication
Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals with little to no interaction with other animals, including other hedgehogs. However, hedgehogs are excellent communicators even though they don’t socialize often. While their communication style may not be as obvious as some other animals, they are able to convey information effectively through a range of behaviors.
For example, hedgehogs use a variety of sounds to communicate with each other and their human owners. Keen listeners and individuals who have lived with a hedgehog for a long time can understand what it is trying to convey through its sound and noises.
Additionally, hedgehogs can communicate using body language. For instance, hedgehogs curl up and defend themselves with their quills when they feel threatened. Doing this is a clear signal to potential predators and attackers to stay away.
Socialization
The fact that hedgehogs don’t socialize all that much is not a good reason to consider them unintelligent. This is because hedgehogs have been able to thrive in the wild for generations due to their solitary nature. Hoglets (baby hedgehogs) in a prickle (a group of hedgehogs) also tend to socialize with their fellow babies and their mother as they learn the ropes of life.
Hedgehogs also engage in social behaviors during the mating season. Male hedgehogs will seek out female hedgehogs and engage in courtship rituals such as circling, sniffing, and making clicking noises with their mouths. However, the male will leave the female to care for the offspring on her own once the pair has mated.
Learning and Problem Solving
One of the easiest ways to gauge an animal’s intelligence level is to focus on its ability to learn and solve problems. While hedgehogs may not be able to perform complex cognitive tasks like some other animals, they have demonstrated a range of learning and problem-solving abilities.
Food Sourcing
Hedgehogs do not have the speed to chase down fast prey. Neither do they have the strength and ability to catch and kill large prey. Instead, they prefer to eat small animals and plants. Hedgehogs are astute foragers and hunters compared to many other animals of similar size. And they are free to eat both plants and animals since they are omnivores. Some of their favorite food in the wild include small fruits, toads and insects.
Nevertheless, just because the animals they eat are small doesn’t necessarily mean they are completely easy to capture. Hedgehogs are smart enough to use problem-solving skills in the wild to get food. For example, hedgehogs use their well-developed claws and keen sense of smell to find food in the wild. They usually hunt by snuffling out little critters underground or snacking on insects above ground level. On the other hand, hedgehogs are opportunistic plant-eaters that frequently eat fallen fruit whenever they come across them. Hedgehogs are also able to navigate complex environments, such as climbing trees to find and eat fresh fruits directly from trees.
Wild hedgehogs aren’t the only ones that can source for food. A pet hedgehog might stop eating food whenever it gets tired or make subtle sounds to its owner whenever it’s hungry. This just shows that hedgehogs are intelligent and smart.
Training
Hedgehogs can also be trained to perform various tasks, including responding to certain cues and using a litter box. While they may not be as trainable as some other animals, such as dogs, hedgehogs have demonstrated the ability to learn simple commands and remember to perform such tasks later on.
Adaptability
Hedgehogs are also able to adapt to their environment irrespective of their small size and feeble nature. This adaptability has allowed hedgehogs to survive in multiple regions in an ever-changing world.
Diet
One of the key factors contributing to hedgehog adaptability is their diet. Hedgehogs are omnivores, which means they eat both plants and animals. This flexibility allows hedgehogs to adapt to changes in their environment and find food even in times of scarcity.
Defensive Nature
Most animals instinctively know how to avoid danger or react to it. Hedgehogs are prolific at this and are usually intelligent and smart when they sense danger. They can quickly respond, stay away, and protect themselves from danger when the time comes. The quills on the backs of hedgehogs are not just a fashion statement. The primary use of these quills is for protection against predators in the wild. Though hedgehogs can’t shoot out their quills, they can still use them to injure and harm predators and humans.
On the other hand, hedgehogs can curl into a circular ball-like shape whenever they sense danger. Doing this covers the parts of the hedgehog’s body without quills. This makes it rather challenging to harm or uncurl them in this position.
Hedgehogs are also smart enough to hide where they feel safe when they are nervous or scared. This could be inside their cages, behind their owner, or even inside their owner’s pockets and bags.
Navigation
Hedgehogs are also able to adapt to changes in their physical environment. They are skilled climbers and swimmers that can navigate a variety of terrains. Hedgehogs in urban areas frequently use drainpipes to move around and garden structures as shelter.
Cannibalism
In the wild, female hedgehogs sometimes cannibalize their young ones for a multitude of reasons. For one, they devour their young when threatened. Giving birth takes a toll on the body, so a female hedgehog might consume her child to regain some of the expelled energy she used in giving birth whenever she senses a predator might come to snatch the baby. This way, she may restore some of her discharged energy and quench her hunger for a few days rather than letting the predator consume the child. Though this fact isn’t exactly a cheerful one, it still goes to show how intelligent hedgehogs can be, albeit in a twisted sort of way.
Blending Into Their Environment
Though hedgehogs can be found on multiple continents, they all make their homes in nests or burrows in the ground. Living in locations with tall grasses and coming out at night to search for food also makes it difficult for predators to spot them. Additionally, living in burrows often results in their bodies becoming covered in dirt and dust, which camouflages them and makes it even harder for predators to detect them. This coating of dirt can even make it challenging to distinguish between a regular and an albino hedgehog in the wild because of the yellowish-brown dirt on their body.
Hibernation
Hedgehogs are also able to instinctively tell whenever they need to hibernate to survive. Hedgehogs hibernate due to climate change to avoid the excessive cold and compensate for the lack of food throughout the winter.
Emotions
Emotion is a vital component every pet should possess. And hedgehogs are highly emotional. A hedgehog might run into your arms when it sees you or spend hours in its cage without coming out when you abandon it for a long time. Hedgehogs also exhibit signs of stress and often get restless and start pacing when they are kept in unfamiliar or stressful environments. Hedgehogs can get angry, sad, bored, and loads more.
Animals who display feelings like happiness, rage, sulking, or loneliness are unquestionably intelligent. It might take a while for hedgehogs to trust humans completely. Still, once they do, the bond between them and human beings is usually unbreakable. The enjoyment resulting from such a relationship benefits both the hedgehog and the human. Having a hedgehog as an emotional support animal can also raise serotonin levels in the brain, so that’s just another positive.
Memory
Hedgehogs are not the bravest animals out there. They are usually nervous whenever they meet new people or visit a new location. It might take some time, but hedgehogs tend to warm up to their owners after a while. When they get used to an individual, they’ll learn to recognize the person’s voice, appearance, and scent over time.
Hedgehogs can also be trained to obey simple commands and perform little tricks. This shows that hedgehogs can remember their previous actions and replicate them.
Conclusion
You might never see your hedgehog do something brilliant as monkeys do, but that doesn’t mean hedgehogs aren’t intelligent and smart creatures in their own right. Just like humans, hedgehogs have personalities, so the probability that yours may be a tad bit more or less intelligent than the average hedgehog depends on its nature and penchant for adventure. Hedgehogs are lazy creatures and can quickly get bored too. This, and the fact that they are nocturnal, reasonably escalates the probability for them to be slothful whenever you’re with them. However, hedgehogs are fascinating creatures to have as a pet. They have lovely personalities and exhibit traits of animal-level intelligence.
Through these findings, it’s apparent that hedgehogs are not only good pets but are intelligent and smart ones with a range of personalities and traits. Though they may not be as smart as other domestic animals like cats, dogs, and monkeys, they are still intelligent enough to put a smile on your face.
