Hericus (hedgehog)

Here we have a hedgehog... called Hericus... don't be fooled by his cuteness...

Size: 8.5cm x 4.5cm x 4cm

Did you know...

In a Bosnian legend, the origin of hedgehog is connected to the Devil: the Devil threw his cut hair under the log for chopping trees. That hair immediately turned into a hedgehog.

In medieval Britain, farmers believed that hedgehogs stole milk from cows by sucking on them at night, they were even said to be witches in disguise. In 1566, the Elizabethan parliament put a three pence bounty on the head of every hedgehog that was caught and killed. Even the church got involved offering bounties of their own.

The old French word for hedgehog was hurcheon. When the Normans invaded England they brought this word as well as many other French words with them. The English, who I think have never relished learning French, stumbled badly over the spelling, and finally settling on urchin for hedgehog.  Now folk tradition said that a hedgehog could also be a mischievous elf in disguise and so the English also began to call rascally children urchins. People eventually stopped using urchin as a synonym for a hedgehog, but have continued using it for an impish child. The sea urchin, a spiny creature was so named for its resemblance to the urchin, or the hedgehog.