Lt. Liis Vaksmann, of the EDF HQ Public Affairs Section, told ERR News the name Hedgehog has been in use since 2008. It was selected because the EDF has a preference for names that are short, easy to remember and symbolic.

Hedgehog – siil in Estonian – fits all the categories.

"It has a small body but can defend itself successfully against larger adversaries — it is well suited to Estonia, a small country that must be prepared to defend itself against bigger threats," she said in a written reply.

"It rolls up and reveals its quills in the face of danger — just as Estonia must be ready to react quickly and become 'prickly' when danger appears;

"[And it] represents comprehensive resistance where every quill is required for, and has its role in, defending the animal — this fits well with Estonia's concept of national defense."  

The exercise's slogan is "Every quill matters" ("Iga okas loeb").

The Hedgehog theme is also used in other smaller snap exercises throughout the year, which are called "Quill" ("Okas") in connection with the animal's prickles. The name symbolizes "vigilance, preparedness and sharpness."

But the small hedgehog also has a special place in Estonia's cultural landscape.

The woodland animal is a minor character in the national epic, Kalevipoeg, a 19th-century epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, which is well known by the public.

In Canto XII, Kalevipoeg is besieged by enemies and tries to use a pile of planks he is carrying to beat them back. He is losing the fight until he hears a friendly voice from the bushes, which tells him to hit his opponents with the planks' edges instead of the flat sides.

The hero listens to his newfound adviser and soon routs the blackguard.

Kalevipoeg then gives the creature a piece of his jacket in thanks, which is said to be how the hedgehog got its prickles. However, the cloth is slightly too small, which is why the hedgehog's tummy is not covered with spikes.

"Kalevipoeg brought prosperity to the land and his people. And hedgehog became a true symbol of intelligence and wisdom," the Estonian Embassy in London said.

In more recent times, Siil has been depicted as a hacker sitting at a computer by Estonian artist Edward von Lõngus. "The brains behind the muscle."

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