Habits of the Hedgehog, 107 



face, either by burrowing a hole, or entering one already 

 made. Where there is a colony of moles, there is generally 

 a run leading to a ditch, by which they go to drink. They 

 are seldom seen out of their holes, except when they go to 

 drink, and sometimes in still evenings. — J. C. JVitham, 

 Essex, March 20. 1834. 



[Some original information on the habits of the mole, as 

 observed in a live one kept in a tub of earth for several days, 

 is given in No. xvii. of the Parent's Cabinet of Amusement and 

 Instruction. It never came to the top of the earth, but for 

 food. It " fed on bread, little pieces of roast meat, pieces of 

 fruit, and several other things. One day I gave him some 

 dead minnows, and he licked them all over with his tongue, 

 and then ate them. Mamma thought, by his licking the wet 

 fish, that he might be thirsty, so I made a little hole in the 

 earth in his tub, and sunk a cup of water in it, in such a 

 way that the top of the cup was level with the earth. Mamma 

 and I stepped back a little distance to watch him. He soon 

 came up, looked all round timidly, and then, seeing no one, 

 began to drink very eagerly. The moment he caught sight 

 of me, he buried himself; but he quickly returned to the 

 water. ... I do not know whether a mole has ever been tamed, 

 but mine was a fierce little fellow. If I touched him, he 

 squeaked like a rat, and tried to bite me with his sharp teeth." 

 (p. 220.) 



Our correspondent Agronome has never seen a mole in 

 Ireland. (V. 104.) A gentleman, familiar with the north of 

 Ireland, informs me that he has never seen a mole there. 



Instances of the mole in white fur are mentioned in V. 571., 

 VII. 14*3.; in cream-coloured fur, in VIII. 105. ; in fur of a 

 silvery ash-grey colour, with an orange mark under the lower 

 jaw, and a line of the same colour down the belly, in VII. 143. 



For " Chrysocholiris capensis," in VI. 512., read " Chry- 

 sochloris capensis." This animal, which inhabits the Cape 

 of Good Hope, is allied to the mole. " Its fur is brown, but 

 gives, in certain angles of light, a brilliant metallic green and 

 copper colour," as implied in the term Chrysochloris. (Grif- 

 fith's Animal Kingdom, v.) ] 



The Hedgehog : Remarks in Obliteration of the Superstition 

 which accuses it of sucking Milk from Cows (IV. 425. note *; 

 VII. 559.; VIII. 32.); andFactson its Habits.— It is incredible 

 with what stupidity and obstinacy the more uneducated of the 

 English farmers persecute animals which a little investigation 

 would convince them are really useful occupants of their fields. 

 I once tried to save a family of hedgehogs from a man who 

 would not be persuaded that they had not sucked his cows. 



