Hedgehog

International name: European hedgehog

Scientific name: Erinaceus europaeus

Irish name: Gráinneog

Diet: Omnivore

Size: 20-30cm

Tips on how to find them: Best to look between April and October when they are out of hibernation; most likely to be seen around dusk; droppings often appear in open areas and are dark, wrinkled and dry, tapering at one end; four-toed footprints (the animal itself has five toes on each foot) best seen in muddy ground, especially after rain; a hedgehog’s nest – a compact dome of grass – may be found in thickets or hedgerows. You can also entice hedgehogs into your garden by leaving it unkempt, as decaying leaves will attract slugs and in turn hedgehogs.

I once saw a (possibly ill) hedgehog in broad daylight after coming back from Paris with my family. My dad took a few photos of it, but the quality of the photos is nowhere near as good as those I snapped of the rescue hedgehog in Belfast Zoo months earlier (my favourite of which provides the featured image).