374 



ANIMALS OF 



bling a small animal, with a bunch on its back, 

 the animal begins to bend its back, to lay its 

 head upon its breast, to shut its eyes, to roll 

 down the skin of its sides towards the legs, to 

 draw these up, and lastly, to tuck them in 

 evry side, by drawing the skin still closer. In 

 this form, which the hedgehog always puts on 

 when disturbed, it no way resembles an ani- 

 mal, but rather a roundish mass of prickles, 

 impervious on every side. The shape of the 

 animal thus rolled up, somewhat resembles a 

 chesnut in the husk ; there being, on one side, 

 a kind of flat space, which is that on which the 

 head and legs have been tucked in. 



Such is the usual appearance of the hedge- 

 hog, upon the approach of any danger. Thus 

 rolled up in a lump, it patiently waits till its 

 enemy passes by, or is fatigued with fruitless 

 attempts to annoy it. The cat, the weasel, the 

 ferret, and the martin, quickly decline the 

 combat ; and the dog himself generally spends 

 his time in empty menaces, rather than in 

 effectual efforts. Every increase of danger 

 only increases the animal's precautions to keep 

 on its guard ; its assailant vainly attempts to 

 bite, since he thus more frequently feels than 

 inflicts a wound ; he stands enraged and bark- 

 ing, and rolls it along with the paws ; still, 

 however, the hedgehog patiently submits to 

 every indignity, but continues secure; and 

 still more to disgust its enemy with the contest, 

 sheds its urine, the smell of which is alone 

 sufficient to send him away. In this manner 

 the dog, after barking for some time, leaves 

 the hedgehog where he found him, who, per- 

 ceiving the danger past, at length peeps out 

 from its ball, and, if not interrupted, creeps 

 slowly to its retreat. 



The hedgehog, like most other wild animals, 

 sleeps by day, and ventures out by night. It 

 generally resides in small thickets, in hedges, 

 or in ditches covered with bushes ; there it 

 makes a hole of about six or eight inches deep, 

 and lies well wrapped up, in moss, grass, or 

 leaves. Its food is roots, fruits, worms, and 

 insects. It is also said to suck cattle, and hurt 

 their udders ; but the smailness of its mouth 

 will serve to clear it from this reproach. It is 

 said also to be very hurtful in gardens and 

 orchards, where it will roll itself in a heap of 

 fruit, and so carry a large quantity away upon 

 its prickles ; but this imputation is as ill 

 grounded as the former, since the spines are 



so disposed, that no fruit will stick upon 

 them, even if we should try to fix them on. 

 It rather appears to be a very serviceable ani- 

 mal, in ridding our fields of insects and worms, 

 whk'h are so prejudicial to vegetation. 



Mr. Buffon, who kept these animals tame 

 about his house, acquits them of the reproach 

 of being mischievous in the garden, but then he 

 accuses them of tricks, of which, from the form 

 and habits of this animal, one would be never 

 led to suspect them. " I have often," says he, 

 " had the female ard her young brought me 

 about the beginning of June : they are gene- 

 rally from three to five in number : they are 

 white in the beginning, and only the marks of 

 their spines appear : I was willing to rear 

 some of them, and accordingly put the dam 

 and her young into a tub, with abundant pro- 

 vision beside them ; but the old animal, instead 

 of suckling her young, devoured them all, one 

 after another. On another occasion, an hedge- 

 hog that had made its way into the kitchen, 

 discovered a little pot, in which there was 

 meat prepared for boiling ; the mischievous 

 animal drew out the meat, and left its excre- 

 ments in the stead. I kept males and females 

 in the same apartment, where they lived 

 together, but never coupled. I permitted 

 several of them to go about my garden, they 

 did very little damage; and it was scarcely 

 perceivable that they were there : they lived 

 upon the fruits that fell from the trees; they 

 dug the earth into shallow holes; they eat 

 caterpillars, beetles, and worms ; they were 

 also very fond of flesh, which they devoured 

 boiled or raw." 



They couple in spring, and bring forth about 

 the beginning of summer. They sleep during 

 the winter, and what is said of their laying up 

 provisions for that season, is consequently false. 

 They at no time eat much, and can remain 

 very long without any food whatsoever. Their 

 blood is cold, like all other animals that sleep 

 during the winter. Their flesh is not good for 

 food ; and their skins are converted to scarce 

 any use, except to muzzle calves, to keep them 

 from sucking. 



THE TANREC AND TENDRAC. 



THE Tanrec and Tendrac, are two little 

 animals described by Mr. JBuffon, of the 



