Originally Posted by sewjoyce
How cute!! Are their little quills really sharp?
Yes Joyce, their spines are sharp, you would have to wear thick gloves to handle them (apart from the babies whose spines are softer). They are not barbed like a porcupine though, and they can't shoot them out or shed them into a predator like a porcupine does. They are used as defence in the way the hedgehog rolls into a tight ball when threatened, causing its body to become one huge ball of spikes