Ways that are Dark 



THE hedgehog is a night-prowler. 



By day he keeps himself well out of sight, curled 

 up in thick grass, among fallen leaves in some dense 

 old hedge, or in the roots of an old tree. Of a 

 summer evening you may chance to hear him as he goes 

 rustling with shuffling gait up a dry ditch in search of 

 beetles. 



At night he is fond of wandering about meadows 

 where cattle have been grazing ; in a favourite meadow 

 several may feed together. 



But we see very little of our curious porcupine. 



He leads a useful life, devouring quantities of beetles, 

 toads, worms, and slugs. He will eat nearly anything. 

 No doubt, if he has the chance, he takes eggs from 

 nests. And sometimes he is in trouble with the game- 

 keeper through making his way into a coop where a 

 motherly hen is in charge of young pheasants. Then 

 he may kill the hen and in turn is likely to be killed 

 by the keeper, who is his greatest enemy. He routs 

 about among roots in the way of a pig, and may cause 

 some damage in a garden. 



Mother hedgehog makes for her young a sheltered 

 nest amid leaves. Very helpless they are at first, 

 blind and naked, their tender spines looking like white 

 hairs. But in a week or two these harden, and the 



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