84 COMMON BRITISH ANIMALS 



The Hedgehog. 



There are hedgehogs differing very little from our 

 little spiny friend living in Europe, Asia_, and Africa. 

 The British hedgehog has tawny yellow and grey 

 hair underneath the body and carries on his back a 

 very singular means of protection in the shape of a 

 mantle of spines. When alarmed he tucks his head 

 between his forepaws and rolls himself up into a ball. 

 In this attitude few of his enemies care to touch him. 

 Terriers trying to worry him will become torn and 

 gory though the^'Urchin^^ (an old name for the hedge- 

 hog) has not struck a blow in his own defence. The 

 fox, the badger and the horned owl are said to prey 

 upon them, and must have their own methods of 

 getting at a vulnerable spot. Mr. Millais speaks of 

 having seen a terrier kill a hedgehog by working 

 away with his nails. He then got his paw into the 

 centre of the ball and was able to press on the chest 

 with one paw and draw up the head with the other, 

 and then a nip in the throat dispatched the poor 

 hedgehog, who has no weapon other than his spiny 

 coat. 



The hedgehog makes himself a snug little nest of 

 leaves by digging out a hollow in a shady bank with 

 his snout, or by appropriating a hollow beneath the 

 roots of some old tree. Here he brings up two 

 families in the year about June and August, con- 

 sisting of five to seven young ones which are born 

 blind and with soft spines. These, however, harden 

 in about three weeks' time. The food of the hedge- 

 hog consists chiefly of insects, worms and slugs, but 



