7-foot-tall hedgehog piques 'Natural Curiosities'

If Sonic is the first name that pops into your head when hearing the word "hedgehog," British naturalist Sir David Attenborough wants to change your perceptions about the prickly creature.

A life-like hedgehog statue, measuring 7 feet tall and 12 feet long, covered in coconut fiber and over 2,000 wood spikes, was unveiled on Clapham Common in London to launch Attenborough's new nature series, "Natural Curiosities" on UKTV this week.

"Natural Curiosities is a really unusual series so we thought the best way to mark it was by doing something quite surprising," Catherine Catton, UKTV senior commissioning editor said in a video posted to YouTube.

"Hedgehogs are one of the most familiar animals in our countryside," Attenborough added. "But actually, what do people know about hedgehogs? And what sort of part do hedgehogs play in our own imagination, or in our history? There's a lot to be said about hedgehogs. You'd be surprised."

A recent survey of 2,000 British adults revealed that because the "average Briton takes only 16 walks in the countryside each year, dramatically limiting their exposure to wildlife, a quarter of Britons say they have never seen a wild hedgehog, rabbit or fox, while 26 per cent claim never to have spotted a grey squirrel or frog, and 36 per cent say wild deer have eluded them," according to the Daily Mail.

(Via Daily Mail)