40 ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS. 



and these abstractions were most mysterious. The next 

 day there was a general search in possible and impossible 

 places, and the end of a muslin string was seen in the 

 oven-hole ; it was seized on, and not only was the night- 

 cap dragged out, but all the missing and not missing 

 articles which the hedgehog had purloined; most of them 

 were much torn, and it was supposed that the poor beast 

 had taken possession of them to make a soft bed. I 

 have not seen such a propensity noticed elsewhere, and 

 it may be a useful hint to those who keep hedgehogs. 

 All endeavours to make this animal friendly were un- 

 availing ; but I am told that hedgehogs are frequently 

 quite domesticated, and even show a degree of affection. 

 Dr. Buckland ascertained the manner in which hedge- 

 hogs kill snakes. They make a sudden attack on the 

 reptile, give it a fierce bite, and then, with the utmost 

 dexterity, roll themselves up so as to present nothing 

 but spines when the snake retaliates. They repeat this 

 manoeuvre several times, till the back of the snake is 

 broken in various places; they then pass it through their 

 jaws, cracking its bones at short intervals; after which 

 they eat it all up, beginning at the tail. The old legend, 

 that hedgehogs suck the udders of cows as they lie on 

 the ground chewing the cud, is, of course, wholly with- 

 out foundation. They retreat to holes in trees, or in the 

 earth, where they make a bed of leaves, moss, etc., in 

 which they roll themselves, and these substances sticking 

 to the spines make them look like a bundle of vegetable 

 matter. In this condition they pass the winter, in a state 

 of torpidity; but it should be mentioned that one which 

 was tame retained its activity the whole year. There 

 are instances of hedgehogs performing the office of turn- 

 spits in a kitchen; and from the facility with which they 



