The long-eared hedgehog is one of about 25 species in the hedgehog family. Except for one distinctive characteristic, the long-eared hedgehog‘s build hardly differs from the European forest and field hedgehog. As the name already implies its ears are disproportionately long. On the one hand they serve as the animal’s heat regulation mechanism and on the other hand, they give the hedgehog a first-rate sense of hearing for hunting. Mostly it prefers chasing grasshoppers and bugs. It also feeds on small vertebrates.
Long-eared hedgehogs live in dry areas such as deserts (e.g. the Gobi Desert in Mongolia) or steppes and in some regions they hibernate for up to three months. They are solely nocturnal animals and despite their small build of only 12 to 27 centimetres, are able to flee very fast and over great distances, namely up to nine kilometres per night.
