How it works
Looking for a good trivia question about hedgehogs? Here are five rounds of them, from the hog in the name to the hedgehogs that sailed to New Zealand.
Read the full guide
Five rounds, from urchin to the glacier
Names and relatives dates the word and finds a lost American cousin. Spines, senses and defense explains quilling, anointing and a muscle protein that blunts snake venom. Food, nests and seasons counts three kinds of nest. The four-toed hedgehog crosses Africa on its hind toes. From Europe to New Zealand rides a sailing ship and a railway.
For a garden club or a wildlife evening
Read the question, tap the answer you think is right, and the card settles it with a reason and a link to the article. Sets run to ten. Scored round takes twenty answers and gives the marks afterward.
Questions and answers
What is a good trivia question about hedgehogs?
Try this one: what covers the quills of a newborn hedgehog? A protective membrane. Over several hours it dries and shrinks, then falls away, and the quills come through.
Do hedgehogs shoot their quills?
No. A hedgehog's spines are neither barbed nor poisonous, and they do not come away easily, as a porcupine's quills do. A threatened hedgehog rolls into a tight spiny ball instead.
What do hedgehogs eat?
A bit of everything: hedgehogs are omnivores. Insects, snails, frogs, toads, snakes, bird eggs and carrion are on the menu, along with mushrooms, grass roots, berries and melons. The European hedgehog lives largely on earthworms.
How were the answers checked?
Each was read on October 3, 2026 in the English Wikipedia articles Hedgehog, European hedgehog or Four-toed hedgehog; every question links its own. Population figures, diseases, pet keeping, and hedgehogs as food or medicine are left out.