A Pinecone Hedgehog is an adorable craft!

Pinecone Hedgehog!

Hedgehogs are very interesting animals-- and cute, too!

 Here at Brookgreen Gardens, we have in our animal collection a four-toed African pygmy hedgehog named Spike.

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Unfortunately, we don’t have hedgehogs in North or South America. Their native range is in Europe, and the African pygmy hedgehog lives across central Africa.

Hedgehog facts:

Hedgehogs have short white hair on their cheeks and belly, but on their backs, they have half-inch un-barbed spines.

They have 5 toes on their front feet and only 4 on the back feet.

They have excellent hearing and sense of smell. They can detect prey 2 inches or more underground.

Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals, which means they are active at night and sleep in a burrow during the day.

When frightened, a hedgehog can roll itself into a tight ball, which protects its head, belly, and feet.

Hedgehogs like to eat worms, snails, lizards, snakes, eggs, fruits, seeds, fungi, and roots.

How to make a hedgehog from a pinecone!

 Supplies:

          Small pinecone

          Felt or construction paper

          Hot glue gun and white craft glue

          Pinking shears

          Very small puff ball and beads for eyes. Or roll up a very small piece of black construction paper for the nose and draw on the eyes.

          You can also paint the pinecone if you want but a natural one is just fine.

Procedure:

hedgehog face 1.jpg

hedgehog face 2.jpg

          Cut a circle for the face. The size depends on the size of the pinecone. For a small cone, cut a two and a quarter inch circle with pinking shears. Use the pinking shears to give a pointy edge to the face.

Cut a pie shaped wedge out of the circle. Then, using the craft glue attach the edges together in order to make a small cone shape.

Using the hot glue gun, glue the face on to the pointed end of the pinecone.

Cut out little ears to also attach to the cone behind the face.

Make the face by gluing a very small pompom to the point of the cone. Or if you don’t have one roll up a small piece of black paper to make a nose. You can use small black beads for eyes or just draw them on with the marker.

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Depending on what craft supplies you have, this can be as elaborate or as simple as you want to make it. Use your imagination and have fun!