THE HEDGEHOG. . 



Notwithstanding all the persecutions from pre- 

 judice and wantonness to which the hedge-hog 

 (erinaceus europaeus) is exposed, it is yet common 

 with us ; sleeping by day in a bed of leaves and 

 moss, under the cover of a very thick bramble or 

 furze-bush, and at times in some hollow stump of a 

 tree. It creeps out in the summer evenings ; and, 

 running about with more agility than its dull ap- 

 pearance promises, feeds on dewworms and beetles, 

 which it finds among the herbage, but retires with 

 trepidation at the approach of man. In the au- 

 tumn, crabs, haws, and the common fruits of the 

 hedge, constitute its diet. In the winter, covering 

 itself deeply in moss and leaves, it sleeps during 

 the severe weather; and, when drawn out from 

 its bed, scarcely any thing of the creature is to 

 be observed, it exhibiting only a ball of leaves, 

 which it seems to attach to its spines by repeat- 

 edly rolling itself round in its nest. Thus com- 

 fortably invested, it suffers little from the sea- 

 son. Some strong smell must proceed from this 

 animal, as we find it frequently, with our sporting 

 dogs, even in this state; and every village boy 

 with his cur detects the haunts of the poor hedge- 

 hog, and as assuredly worries and kills him. Kill- 

 ing every thing, and cruelty, are the common vices 

 of the ignorant ; and unresisting innocence becomes 

 a ready victim to prejudice or power. The snake 

 the blindworm, and the toad, are all indiscrimi- 



