On a hot summer night, as we cool off in the garden, we often see a small gray creature leading several young ones, skittering along the base of the wall upon closer inspection, revealing itself to be a hedgehog family.
Hedgehogs have a strong preference for eating worms, beetles, millipedes, and other insects found in damp areas. Therefore, the outskirts of threshing floors, haystacks, and near waste piles are places they frequent.
During the day, they remain motionless in their burrows, only venturing out at night to search for food. In autumn, they enjoy eating small fruits, with dates being their favorite. The way hedgehogs steal dates is quite interesting: they first bite the dates off onto the ground, gather them up, roll over them to impale all the dates on their spines, and then carry them back to their nest for a family feast.
Hedgehog meat is very tasty, which is why carnivorous animals display an eager interest in them. However, upon approaching, hedgehogs immediately curl up into a ball, tucking their heads and feet, presenting an entirely spiky defense that often discourages carnivores. Therefore, despite their often ostentatious walks through gardens, larger animals like cats do not harm them.
One of the most formidable enemies of hedgehogs is the yellow weasel; indeed, only yellow weasels are known to consume hedgehogs. Consequently, wherever hedgehogs are found, yellow weasels are abundant.
Yellow weasels are carnivorous creatures and longstanding residents in rural areas. They come out every night to hunt, with a strong preference for stealing chickens. If chickens are unavailable, they resort to catching rodents, although rodents are agile and difficult to catch. Hedgehogs, on the other hand, are easy prey due to their slower pace. While other animals are puzzled by hedgehogs, yellow weasels have strategies to consume them upon sight.
Yellow weasels possess scent glands in their anal region, capable of secreting copious amounts of odoriferous liquid when needed. They can even eject this liquid through a farting action, which is quite potent and serves as a weapon against adversaries. If chased, when the enemy’s mouth approaches its hindquarters, it promptly ejects the foul liquid. For larger animals like dogs, just one such expulsion can halt their pursuit. Hence, yellow weasels’ farts are famously known as “life-saving farts.”
When hedgehogs encounter an attack by yellow weasels, they instinctively curl up into a ball. However, this defense is ineffective against yellow weasels. Yellow weasels only need to locate a small opening in the curled-up hedgehog and inject their liquid. Shortly thereafter, the hedgehog is incapacitated by the liquid, allowing the yellow weasel to succeed in its capture. People often say that yellow weasels are captivating, which originates from this behavior.