Sorry to hear they are disappearing. I do not know remember whether it was Enid Blyton or someone else who introduced me to them, but I do remember being extremely fond of hedgehogs living in Britain after reading a book.

And that was a relief because I had been told that they can shoot their spines at a person. Inaccurate stuff of nightmares.

The self-anointation that you talk about is making me rather curious. Thank you for sharing this.