Hedgehogs in culture
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This article discussions hedgehogs in culture, either popular or folk.
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[edit] Europe
As animals native to Europe, hedgehogs hold a rightful place in European folklore. Since the mammal didn't possess any "righteous" qualities, it never made it to the court art; however, its relationships with fairy tales has been a long and fruitful one.
In most European countries, hedgehogs are believed to be a hard-working no-nonsense animal. This partially results from a fact that hedgehogs are believed to be collecting apples and mushrooms and carrying them to their secret storage. It is unclear exactly how old this belief is, though the Roman author Pliny the Elder mentions hedgehogs gathering grapes by this method in his Naturalis Historia. In medieval bestiaries and other illuminated manuscripts dating from at least the 13th century onwards, hedgehogs are shown rolling on and impaling fruit to carry back to their dens. In fact however hedgehogs do not gather food to store for later consumption, relying on their deposited fat to survive hibernation. The image remains an irresistible one to modern illustrators. Therefore, hedgehogs are often portrayed carrying apples - partially, to make them look cuter.
Hedgehogs are often pictured as fond of milk, while in reality, they are lactose-intolerant.
They are also often seen in pictures with an autumn-themed background, since the animal hibernates in piles of leaves. This also adds to the cute reputation of hedgehogs. In Great Britain however the human habit of lighting bonfires to celebrate Bonfire Night on November 5th has led to an increased risk to hedgehogs, who often choose to sleep in the piles of wood accumulated in gardens and parks beforehand. Television messages now remind viewers who might be lighting bonfires to check them first for the presence of hibernating hedgehogs.
During the 1970s and 1980s, hedgehogs were one of the poster animals for environment activists through Europe. A lot of hedgehogs were killed by traffic, and since the hedgehog already had an aura of a cute little friendly animal the choice was nearly perfect.
[edit] United States
The common American holiday Groundhog Day originated in ancient Rome as Hedgehog Day and is still celebrated as such through much of the world. There are no native hedgehogs in the United States, so the early settlers chose the groundhog as a substitute.
Hedgehogs remain largely unseen in modern day American culture. On a number of occasions British educational programs have been revoiced to refer to hedgehogs as porcupines (at least one of such examples being Bob the Builder). The Wacky Wheels video game makes humorous use of hedgehogs as projectiles, and they are also seen reading the newspaper while sitting on the toilet in the middle of the race course.
[edit] Oceania
New Zealand's McGillicuddy Serious Party were unsuccessful in their attempt to get a hedgehog elected to Parliament.
Also in New Zealand, hedgehogs feature in the Bogor cartoon by Burton Silver, via which they also appeared on a postage stamp.
[edit] Technology
A hedgehog transformer is an early type of electrical transformer designed to work at audio frequencies (AF). They resemble hedgehogs in size, color and shape, and were used in the first part of the 20th Century. (See http://www.telephonecollecting.org/hedgehog.html)
[edit] Cuisine
In some supermarkets in the UK, a type of speciality loaf named Hedgehog Bread can be found for sale. The loaf has a hard top crust shaped before baking into a series of small spikes, resembling a hedgehog.
"Hedgehogs" may also be created by moulding ground meat in a teardrop shape, embedding pastry slivers or slivered almonds in the surface to resemble quills, and adding eyes and ears of peppercorns, olives, or whole almonds. The technique dates back to at least 1390[1], and was referenced in an episode of Two Fat Ladies.
[edit] Hedgehogs in popular culture
[edit] In books
- Beatrix Potter's Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle stars a hedgehog.
- British author Terry Pratchett incorporates hedgehogs into several of his Discworld novels, and one of the characters is known for singing a lewd song called "The Hedgehog Can Never Be Buggered At All".
- Jan Brett has featured a hedgehog as the main character in many of her books, including The Mitten and Hedgie's Surprise.
- Hedgehogs are common characters in Brian Jacques's book series, Redwall.
- Dick King-Smith has written a story for younger children about a family of hedgehogs threatened by traffic, The Hodgeheg.
- In The Animals of Farthing Wood by British author Colin Dann, Mr. and Mrs. Hedgehog were a pair of hedgehogs famously killed on a motorway during the animals journey to White Deer Park.
[edit] In other media
- Sonic the Hedgehog is Sega's anthropomorphised corporate mascot and one of the stars of the video game series of the same name, four TV series and two comic series, one published in the USA and one in the UK. Aside from his large spines and penchant for curling into a spiky ball, he bears virtually no resemblance to a real hedgehog, being both bipedal and cobalt blue. Among his many co-stars are three more hedgehogs: Amy Rose, Shadow and Silver. Other hedgehogs in the TV Series was Sonia, Manic, and Uncle Chuck.
- Jeż Jerzy (George the Hedgehog in English) is a Polish comic book title written by Rafał Skarżycki and drawn by Tomasz Lew Leśniak.
- Igel Ärgern is a popular German board game, first published in 1990 by Doris Matthaus & Frank Nestel (the makers of Ursuppe). The title roughly translates as "Hedgehog Irking," but the game is usually called "Hedgehogs in a Hurry" in English. In the game, each player races a team of four hedgehogs across a track, avoiding mud pits and occasionally piling atop one another.
- In a 1970 episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, there was a fake news profile of a crimelord named Dinsdale Piranha, a notorious criminal known for nailing people's heads to floors. Piranha believed a giant invisible hedgehog named "Spiny Norman" was following him everywhere, and when he came to believe Spiny Norman was hiding out in an aeroplane hangar, he blew the hangar up with a nuclear bomb. During the closing credits of the show, Spiny Norman is seen stalking London and shouting "Dinsdale!" A link to the script can be found here.
- In 1981 an Album called 'Hedgehog Sandwich' was released by BBC records, featuring comedy sketches from the Not the Nine O'Clock News television series.
- In the Israeli version of Sesame Street, Rechov Sumsum, one of the main characters was a pink human-sized, orange spiked hedgehog named "Kippy Ben Kippod " (Kippy Hedgehogson). The same character later appeared in the Israeli/Palestinian co-production of the series, Rechov Sumsum Shara'a Simsim
- In the Spanish version of Sesame Street, one of the main characters was a pink human-sized hedgehog called "Espinete" (little spine).
- Hedgehog in the Fog is a 1975 animation directed by Yuriy Norshteyn about a hedgehog who travels through a very foggy wood to visit his friend, a bear.
- Harry Hedgehog a enemy in Yoshi's Island. He's a enemy that runs around and extends his quills when Yoshi gets near.
[edit] References
- ^ "The Forme of Cury, A Roll of Ancient English Cookery, Compiled, about A.D. 1390, by the Master-Cooks of King Richard II, Presented afterwards to Queen Elizabeth, by Edward Lord Stafford", contains a recipe for sausages "made after an urchoun [i.e., hedgehog] withoute legges" with "smale prikkes of gode past [pastry]". http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Forme-of-Cury2.html
