THE HEDGEHOG OE URCHIN. 251 



ridings of the New Forest. It is no uncommon 

 thing to find hedgehogs making use of these 

 gutters, just as the badgers do, doubtless attracted 

 by the insects that fall from the herbage above 

 and become imprisoned there. It is quite possible 

 that the hedgehog might find itself unable to 

 escape from a cutting for some considerable time, 

 though the creature would fare quite well during 

 its imprisonment. 



From the sand-bed previously alluded to an 

 overflow arm of the river ran out across the 

 pastures. One of its banks was so undermined 

 by flood-waters that it formed, as it were, a wall, 

 and beneath its overhanging edge was a shelf of 

 which free use was made by the rabbits. The 

 hedgehogs also used this shelf, for in the sandy 

 wall all manner of sand-burrowing flies had their 

 homes, while slugs and worms were apt to fall 

 from the fibrous roots of the grass-covered brow. 

 Emerging from the wood, the hedgehogs seemed 

 to have a fixed routine. First they would explore 

 the sand-bank ; then, following the overflow arm 

 by the sandy shelf, they would ultimately gain the 

 river half a mile distant; finally returning to the 

 wood by a slight detour under cover of the walls 

 and the nettles. 



As a rule, however, the hedgehog is not a crea- 

 ture of fixed runways. It has a strictly defined 

 home-range, which extends, probably, not more than 

 a hundred yards in any direction from its recog- 

 nised sleeping-quarters. It is entirely a creature 

 of the night. In the day-time it ventures abroad 

 only when warm showers disturb vast numbers 

 of insects, causing them to creep forth into the 

 foliage. A hedgehog will then sally out to take 

 advantage of the feast. The only other times 



