hedgehog

A hedgehog is the small animal covered in sharp spines that rolls into a ball when frightened. Five thousand spines, and a nose that never stops.

Britain has lost most of its hedgehogs in fifty years, largely to roads, tidy gardens and fences with no gaps, which is why hedgehog highways cut into fence panels have become a small national project. They eat slugs, which makes them the gardener's ally. They hibernate through winter. Milk is bad for them, despite the saucer left out by generations of well-meaning households.