THE SOUTH AFRICAN HEDGEHOG 



with its beak, and flying high into the air, lets it 

 fall to the ground. This kills or stuns the creature, 

 whereupon the constrictor muscles relax, and the 

 unprotected parts are exposed. 



Hedgehogs, although of low organisation among 

 the mammal class of animals, have, owing to their 

 effective spiny armour, been enabled to survive 

 from remote times, for their fossil remains have 

 even been found in the Tertiary rocks of Europe 

 in the period known to geologists as the Oligocene. 



The South African Hedgehog is usually seen astir 

 about sundown. During the day it lies asleep, 

 hidden away among the dead leaves in the midst 

 of thick brushwood, in a hedge, tuft of grass, under 

 a low bush or any other form of favourable cover. 

 It is occasionally seen on the prowl during the 

 daytime, but not often, for the reason that its 

 chief enemies, the far-seeing birds of prey, are ever 

 on the watch, and the stately Secretary Bird is 

 likely to come stalking along with majestic stride 

 at any moment, and once seen by it, the Hedgehog's 

 lease of life is at an end. Then, again, the snails, 

 slugs, caterpillars, beetles and other insects which 

 furnish the Hedgehog's chief diet, issue forth from 

 their retreats in great numbers after sundown, and 

 during the night. 



The Hedgehog does not confine itself to snails, 

 slugs and insects. Snakes' eggs and lizards form a 

 welcome addition to its diet. If it should en- 

 counter a snake it immediately attacks it, if it be 



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