THE HEDGEHOG OR URCHIN. 259 



persists ; and no matter what the encounter in 

 which the animal finds itself involved, there is no 

 ferocity or malice on the hedgehog's part. Its 

 intention is to eat, and the creature that objects 

 to being eaten must either defend itself adequately 

 or get out of the way. 



Thus the hedgehog is just as likely to prove 

 snake-killer as it is to prove frog-killer. Seeing a 

 snake, it would undoubtedly attack the reptile, and 

 the supposition seems to be well founded that the 

 victim thereafter beats itself to death in fruitless 

 attacks upon the hedgehog's armament. This 

 effectively accomplished, the hedgehog calmly 

 settles down and eats the snake. 



A common belief also exists that the hedgehog is 

 sometimes guilty of sucking cows ; but the hedge- 

 hog's sharp teeth and inadequately shaped mouth are 

 features which would exclude all possibility of wel- 

 come relief on the part of the cow thus imposed on. 



THE QUILLS. 



It has been said that the hedgehog is a far more 

 active creature than is generally supposed. One 

 kept imprisoned in a garden was fond of climbing 

 up the trellis-work that supported a dense creeper 

 on the sunny side of the boundary wall. Several 

 times it was found there, seven or eight feet from 

 the ground, and there in a bower of leaves it had 

 its day-time nest. Unfortunately it died ere winter 

 came, or in all probability it would have hibernated 

 in the creeper. 



Again, hedgehogs are prone to climb into 

 honeysuckle or some other flowering creeper in 

 pursuit of the bees that are attracted by the honey 

 and the sweet perfume of the flowers. In the de- 

 struction of bees, however, they are less active than 



