Why hedgehogs really are some of the garden's most prickly 顧客s: The 猛烈な／残忍な foragers aren't afraid to fight dirty in the 追跡（する） for food, 熟考する／考慮する finds

By Victoria Allen

Published: | Updated:

Hedgehogs have a 評判 as one of the gentler inhabitants of the 郊外の garden ? にもかかわらず those sharp spines.

But in the fight for food, they are 現実に some of the fiercest foragers, a 熟考する／考慮する shows. The prickly 顧客s aren't afraid to fight dirty both against each other and against bigger animals such as cats.

The 観察s come from hundreds of hours of （映画の）フィート数 submitted to BBC's Springwatch programme after food was left out for animals.

Hedgehogs were filmed doing a '船 and roll' move, in which one 軍隊s another to curl up, before rolling it away from food. In one 事例／患者 a hedgehog rolled a 競争相手 into a pond. The 熟考する／考慮する, in the 定期刊行物 Animals, looked at 小競り合いs between badgers, foxes, cats and hedgehogs, with badgers winning the most 戦う／戦いs 全体にわたる.

But hedgehogs stood up 井戸／弁護士席 to cats, winning 39 per cent of 戦う／戦いs and losing only 11 per cent. They were also the 種類 most likely to fight each other.

Hedgehogs are some of the fiercest foragers, a study has shown. The prickly customers aren?t afraid to fight dirty both agai nst each other and against bigger animals such as cats

Hedgehogs are some of the fiercest foragers, a 熟考する／考慮する has shown. The prickly 顧客s aren't afraid to fight dirty both against each other and against bigger animals such as cats

熟考する／考慮する leader Professor 夜明け Scott, of Nottingham Trent University, said: 'Cats won most of the 対決s with foxes... but when it （機の）カム to hedgehogs, they usually ran off without putting up any fight.?

'We saw cats feeling a spike with their paw, or 匂いをかぐing a hedgehog, then 簡単に running away.'

Badgers, which are strong enough to unroll a curled up hedgehog and eat it without 存在 skewered, （機の）カム out 最高の，を越す in the 熟考する／考慮する, winning most fights against other 種類.

Based on the ビデオs people submitted, cats won more fights against foxes, coming out 最高の，を越す in 44 per cent of 対決s, with foxes winning いっそう少なく than a third of fights against cats.

The 残り／休憩（する） of the interactions ended in a 'draw', where both animals stayed in the same area or ate the same food, or with an 不明瞭な result.

Cats and foxes appeared to take a particular dislike to one another, with more than three-４半期/4分の1s of interactions 誘発するing some form of 積極的な or 防御の reaction.

In the study, hedgehogs stood up well to cats, winning 39 per cent of battles and losing only 11 per cent. They were also the species most likely to fight each other. [File image]

In the 熟考する／考慮する, hedgehogs stood up 井戸／弁護士席 to cats, winning 39 per cent of 戦う／戦いs and losing only 11 per cent. They were also the 種類 most likely to fight each other. [とじ込み／提出する image]?

When cats （機の）カム up against hedgehogs, the spiky 哺乳動物s won 39 per cent of the time, while cats won in いっそう少なく than 11 per cent of altercations over food or kitchen 捨てるs left out by people.

Professor Scott said: 'Ideally, if people do 料金d animals, we would encourage them to leave out healthy food designed for 野性生物 and to scatter it in different places at different times, so the food 供給（する） is not predictable, and so animals are いっそう少なく likely to come to the same place at the same time.'

Within the same 種類, hedgehogs were 設立する to be the most combative - with more than half of interactions between them 主要な to some form of 侵略.

Hedgehogs are 特に reliant on food in gardens, as they need to fatten up before hibernation.

Badgers were the least 競争の激しい with one another, with just seven per cent of 遭遇（する）s resulting in a stand-off.

Cats fighting each other was not looked at in the 熟考する／考慮する, which was published in the 定期刊行物 Animals.

More 研究 is needed, as the ビデオs submitted to the 熟考する／考慮する may have been the most 劇の interactions between animals.

BBC

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