102 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



HEDGEHOG. — Few animals have survived in Britain better than 

 the Hedgehog, for, in spite of persecution, it is still a common 

 species in many districts. Being, however, largely nocturnal in 

 habits, it is rarely seen except by gamekeepers and others whose 

 work takes them continually out of doors, and, this being the case, 

 the Hedgepig, as it is sometimes called, is considered by many to 

 be comparatively rare. 



I have found that in game-preserving country it is quite a 

 common inhabitant of the woodland and hedgerow, and during one 

 season alone on a small estate known to me over three hundred 

 were trapped in a few weeks. Let it be stated straight away, this 

 wild creature is an inveterate enemy to game birds, and my 

 sympathy is always extended to the keeper who loses, through its 

 pilferings, whole nests full of eggs either of Partridge or Pheasant. 



One day during my country wanderings, the keeper and I kept 

 careful watch over a Pheasant's nest. We had had suspicions that 

 some unwarrantable intruder had purloined some of the eggs, several 

 having been missed. The clutch was made up by us with spare 

 eggs from time to time, but still some were missing on each 

 occasion the nest was visited. We suspected a Stoat or Rat as 

 the culprit, but one day our vigilance was rewarded, for, as we 

 approached the Pheasant's nest, we espied a Hedgehog busily 

 engaged scooping out the contents of an egg ! The little beast was 

 sitting, Squirrel-like almost, on its haunches, holding the egg 

 between its fore-paws. 



The small black eyes twinkled as the luscious feast proceeded, 

 the whole form of the animal was agitated as if something were 

 being enacted that ought not to be, and the reader can well imagine 

 the ire of my keeper friend at this loss of the Pheasant's eggs. His 

 first impulse was to rush forward and slay his foe, but on second 

 thoughts we decided to wait further developments. 



Such developments were not long in coming, as, having sucked 

 one egg dry and discarded the shell, the Hedgehog trotted back to 

 the nest, took out another egg, and made short work of the interior. 

 This operation was carried out again and again, until eventually 

 every egg in the nest was sucked dry and the whole clutch was 

 destroyed. What happened afterwards is not for me to tell, for 

 the keeper carried out measures which, humanitarian as I am, did 

 not appeal to me. It would be a painful story to relate, and must 

 be left unwritten. This little incident, however, goes to prove how 



