P0/.N-.v- /:/>/> 77 .v; rnWBR Ot nu: /t/:/>:t:/ino. 



1'oisons of all kinds have be<-n tried nj>on th< Hedp-hoi .vithoattfc MlflflM 

 a.-j,|. ai^-nic. anil other deadly substances have U--n unsuccessfully administered, utul the 

 animal has U-eii Un.mn tu make a very sati meal on cantharides without .-\|- ti. n, in- 



any ill elT.-cts fn.in tin-. cauteri/.iin: insects. Him it is that the MMtttotftoa o( tiM CVMfcm 

 can resist the effects uf such j-.werful substances is n,,(. :i > \.-t. known. li is. IIOW.-MT, a 

 subject of much int.-r.-st. ami. if it could IM- elucidated. would probably lie of incalculable 

 service to mankind. 



On <>ne occasion, uh.-n a Hedgehog was nn|. I. .>.-.! in tin- demolition of a snake. it pin 

 . led in : ren || U ibl] entfo ''' ' '!' ; . : i -. i comb ttii ..-..j h u \ 

 l.-arn.-l how to inflict injury on it.s foe without sulT.-rin- in n-tnni. ( Mi In-ini; mused l-.\ the 

 touch of the snake. tin- ll.-il-.-hog which had IN-.-H coiled n]> - unrolled itself, liit tin* snake 

 shurph. and inn ..... liat-l\ i.-sniuol its coil-<l attitud.-. Thn-*- tiim-s it ii-|H>:it<><l this proceed- 

 ing, and \vh.-n after the thinl bite the siuik.-'s Lack wa.s l.itt.-n llu-oiiirh. the II- dr- IK.- .s(o<Ml 

 by thf >id< of its victim, and dfliU-rat.-h crushed the snake's body throughout its fiitire 

 length by bitini: it at int.-rvals of about half an inch. IIa\ini: thus placi-d its.. If U-vond the 

 reach of it-taliation. it took the tip of the snake's tail in its mouth. U-^m to eat it. and tinbhed 

 the reptile in the course of twenty-four hours. 



The exploits of the Heil-.-ho^ in ser|>ent-killiin,' are useful enough in their way, but it too 

 often happens that the carnivorous propensities of the animal an- .-vicised upon less harmful 

 Matures ili;m \ ij.. i~ 01 othei \. iinin Indeed, the ]Kiultry-fancier and the ^inie pn-server 

 have too much i>-a>4>n for ranking the Hedgehog its-lf undi-r that expivssix,. and .somewhat 

 compr-h.-iisi\e epithet. Many are the instances .. i... ..nl when- tin- cn-ature has leen detect. -d 

 in the act of destroying rabbits, poultry, and various kinds of game, and has l>een uiie\p-ct.-dly 

 discovered to hare been the perjM'tt-.i tor of sundry acts (> f mblH-ry which had lieen laid IIIM.II 

 the shoulders of the f<ix. the weasel, or the polecat. 



On one occasion, the proprietor of a fine bantam cock was roused by a great disturbance 

 in the place where the fowl was kept, and on going down to s.-.- what might IM- the matter. 

 found his feathered favorite struggling in the jaws of a Hedgehog, which had caught it by tin- 

 leg and would speedily have devoured it had not its owner come, happily, to the ivscue. 

 Again, no lees than fifteen turkey poults had been destroyed in the course of a single night. 

 three having been abstracted and the others killed. A number of steel-traps were laid around 

 the scene of devastation, and on the following morning three male Hedgehogs were found in 

 the traps, having evidently returned for the purpose of bringing away the victims of their 

 previous raid. 



All kinds of game fall occasional victims to the Hedgehog's appetite, and the partridge, 

 the hare, and the pheasant seem to suffer equally from the voracity of this strain.'.- animal. A 

 Hedgehog has been seen in the act of destroying a hare, and had inflicted such injuries that 

 the poor creature died in a very short time after it had been rescued from the jaws of its 

 assailant. Rabbits, too, are frequently eaten by this animal, and Hedgehogs have several 

 times been taken in traps that have been set for other "vermin/ 1 and baited with portions of 

 dead rabbits. 



That hares, rabbits, and other terrestrial animals should be captured by so apparent ly 

 clumsy an animal as the Hedgehog is sufficiently remarkable, but that the wary pheasant and 

 the well-winged partridge should fall victims to the creature is more than singular. Vet tin-re 

 are many accredited instances where the Hedgehog has been captured in the MTV act of killing 

 and eating partridges, and has even been killed while the head of a young partridge still pro- 

 truded from its mouth. One of these creatures has been detected in the act of eating a hen 

 pheasant \\hich had been placed in a cage, to which it had gained access by spi>-ving itself 

 through a marvellously small aperture. Another pheasant had been killed on the previous 

 day, but its death had been laid at the d(x>r of the stoat. Karth and air thus s.^-m to furnish 

 their quota of nourishment for the Hedgehog, which extends ita depredati ihe aqueous 



element, and displays a cultivated taste for fish. So fond is this carnivorous creature of the 

 tinny tribe, that it has been frequently caught in traps which have been baited with fish for 

 th>- > \ press purpose of decoying the Hedgehog into their , acherous jaws. 



