

SKINNED HEDGEHOG 



Showing the attitude of the animal when rolled up. Very 

 noteworthy is the great dome of muscle which contracts the 

 animal into a living ball. It will be noticed the muzzle is bent 

 down very nearly to the toes, and that the fingers are touching 

 the toes. 



Photo: Aberdeen University Museum. 



THE DORMOUSE 



The Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) is in some ways 

 suggestive of a miniature squirrel. It climbs in the herbage 

 and bushes; in the thicket in spring it makes a nest of grass and 

 leaves. The tail is somewhat bushy; the eyes are relatively 

 large. Head and body make up about 3 inches, the tail half- 

 an-inch less; the colour is tawny brown above. The Dormouse 

 frequents the central and southern districts of England. It 

 accumulates fat in the summer, and is a light sleeper during the 

 winter. If wakened too suddenly it is apt to die. If there be 

 a second litter in autumn the young ones are said to die. 



1 



L "".^^(^^^vvsfa-.-- 



Photo: Royal Scottish Museum. 



THE POLECAT AND ITS FAMILY 



The Polecat (Pulorius putorius) is also known as the fichet and the foumart (i.e. foul marten, because of its fcetid odour). It is 

 much larger than the Stoat, with looser fur. darkish all over. It lives chiefly in wooded country, feeding on rabbits and birds, but 

 is becoming very scarce in spite of its alertness and courage. A ferret is a domesticated form of the Polecat and is often an albino 

 with no pigment in the hair or in the eyes (which look pink because of the blood shining through). 



