The Wit of the Wild 



r 



stories alleged, yet he might almost as well do 

 so, for the slightest touch will cause their needle- 

 like barbed points to adhere to any soft surface, 

 and they are pulled out and carried away by 

 the enemy as souvenirs of a fruitless encounter 

 far more difficult to get rid of than to acquire. 



Few of the woodland animals are unaware of 

 this, and consequently nothing but the foolish- 

 ness of youth, or the desperation of extreme 

 hunger, will lead any beast of prey to forget 

 the warning of the rattling quills and leap upon 

 their tender-fleshed but bristling owner. Some 

 of the smaller ones, like the fisher marten, do, 

 however, get him by strategy, creeping be- 

 neath the snow in winter and seizing his unpro- 

 tected throat or belly in a fatal nip. Against 

 such an attack, by what soldiers would call 

 " sapping and mining," the poor porcupine can 

 make little defense. 



A good many bugs and some caterpillars and 

 crustaceans have an armament somewhat similar 

 to that of the " fretful porcupine," but these 

 behave more like the hedgehog, simply rolling 

 up so that their points stand out in every direc- 



* 126 &* 



