THE HEDGEHOG 



(Erinacfus curofxtus) 



THE Hedgehog, being so frequently kept in captivity, is perhaps the 

 most familiar member, in Britain at any rate, of the order Insectwora 

 small, insignificant, long-nosed beasts, never bigger than a Rabbit, which 

 are nevertheless found almost all over the world except in the Australian 

 region and most of South America. The general appearance of the 

 Hedgehog is known to every one, but it is worth noting that he has 

 five toes on each foot, and goes about flat-footed like the Bear; and 

 that his teeth are a full set, comprising incisors, canines, and grinders ; 

 as usual in the order, the incisors are large and pointed, much like the 

 canines of other animals. 



The characteristic spines of the Hedgehog are set in his skin much 

 like pins, the basal ends being thickened into "heads," which lie 

 beneath the skin. Very young animals are nearly white in colour, and 

 have the spines soft and flexible, but those illustrated are about half- 

 grown. The characteristic "rolling himself up" of the Hedgehog is 

 done by the contraction of a powerful superficial muscle covering most 

 of the body ; it is that by which the Horse twitches his skin to jerk 

 flies off, and a remnant of it in ourselves enables us to frown thus, 

 as the Hedgehog's contraction thus begins from the front, it is really 

 "a frightful, fearful, frantic frown." It certainly renders the ordinary 

 enemies of the little beast frantic enough, but some very plucky Terriers 

 will worry him open, and the Fox is said to have dodges of his own 

 for effecting that end. 



Unless he meets with a mischance of this kind, the Hedgehog has 

 few enemies except man, who, when he is a gamekeeper, persecutes 

 the creature for its raids on Pheasant chicks, for, although the Hedge- 

 hog's usual food consists of snails, slugs, insects, and the like, it will 

 attack anything it can overcome. On the whole, it probably does more 



