Hi Jennifer,
In the animal world we have heard about the most strange adoptions, for example a lion that adopted an antelope, a turtle that adopted a rhino baby and the list goes on. Here’s a story about hedgehogs that adopted a cleaning brush as their mother :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=478026&in_page_id=1
Many hedgehogs are taken into care each year in Sweden, mostly injured animals and young ones unlikely to survive hibernation.
Hedgehog litter size averages 4, but can be up to 9.
Hedgehogs released back into the wild have a high survival rate. A majority adapt to life in the wild quickly, find their food and make nests and quickly learn their ways.
Their main enemies are badgers and cars (road accidents).
Ann Novek
Sweden
———————————————
see part 1 here: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/002469.html
and if you can cope with the really gruesome, click here, but warning the photograph may cause distress: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/002374.html
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.