HEDGEHOG. 109 



It is easily rendered familiar, and will soon partake, 

 without fear, of the food of the other domestic pets, the 

 Dog or Cat, eating at the same time with them, and from 

 the same dish. A friend of ours has one which will un- 

 fold and lie on his knees before the fire, suffering him to 

 rub the naked parts of the face, from which it appears to 

 derive great pleasure. 



In its natural state it is, properly speaking, nocturnal, 

 remaining coiled up in its retreat during the day, and 

 running about all the night in search of food ; but it 

 may be occasionally seen during the day searching for 

 food, perhaps driven by the demands of its young to be 

 abroad at an unusual hour. Its run is quick and shuf- 

 fling, and, as it were, by starts, but is not continued to 

 any considerable distance at once. 



The hibernation of the Hedgehog is, perhaps, as com- 

 plete as that of any animal inhabiting this country ; and 

 much more so than that of many of the Rodentia, which 

 retire, indeed, to winter retreats, but awaken at intervals, 

 to eat of their treasured hoard of nuts or grain, when 

 called into temporary life by a day of unwonted mild- 

 ness. The Hedgehog, on the contrary, lays up no store 

 for the winter, but retires to its warm, soft nest of moss 

 and leaves, and, rolling itself up into a compact ball, 

 passes the dreary season in a state of dreamless slumber, 

 undisturbed by the violence of the tempest, and only 

 rendered still more profoundly torpid by the bitterest 

 frost. Its usual retreats are in the hollows of trees 

 which are decayed at the bottom of the trunk ; under- 

 neath its base, where the earth has been washed away 



penciled to the udder when she rose, until knocked off with a stick. The 

 fact rests upon the evidence of an intelligent boy of 16, a servant of T. F. 

 Buxton, Esq., of Leyton, in Essex. We confess, however, that we feel a little 

 sceptical respecting the accuracy of this statement. 



