A different Hedgehog

Lowland streaked tenrecs.

I met these guys for the first time a few weeks ago at a friends, they are extremely cute and really ...weird. They are Madagascars version of the hedgehog, although they remind me more of shrews, they move around the forest floor looking for their favourite food .... earthworms. They occasionally take other small insects and fruit but their staple diet is earthworms.

They only reach 6 inches in length but they are covered in coarse hairs and some of these are modified into stiff spines.

They have tiny eyes but have amazingly sensitive whiskers and a very acute sense of smell. This is how they find their food in the night when they lurk the leaf litter layer. They are located on the reptile department at the Japanese koi Company where they are kept nice and warm.

An amazing animal to observe and very glad to have the oppurtunity to look after them.