I’m not from around here. In fact, as my name suggests I’ve come all the way from western Europe! Some of my relatives live across the ditch in New Zealand, although they were introduced in the 1800’s.

I’m small, brown, round and my back is covered in spines with yellow tips. I can have up to 7000 spines on my back! When I’m feeling threatened, I like to roll into a ball and use my strong back muscles to raise my spines.

I’m mostly nocturnal and can be heard snuffing around people’s gardens at night looking for big crunchy beetles, earthworms and slugs – my favourite!”

If you think you know what this creature might be, use the activity sheet below to draw your answer!