260 THE HEDGEHOG OR UECHIN. 



mice, and probably pay their way from the bee- 

 keeper's point of view by scaring off the mice. 

 I remember once examining a clover-patch near 

 to some hives in a Northamptonshire garden, and 

 finding the ground liberally littered with the wings 

 of bees killed by mice. 



The hedgehog's coat of spines is designed not 

 only to protect the creature from bird and animal 

 foes, but also as a safeguard against the effects 

 of falls. A hedgehog has no fear of falling. A 

 twelve-foot drop on to a bed of decaying leaves 

 causes the animal no discomfort whatever, and 

 may be undertaken in the ordinary course of 

 travel. Just as a black-bear, feeding in a tree, 

 will loose its hold and drop fifteen or twenty 

 feet, striking the earth as a closed-up ball and 

 rebounding into safety ere its disturber has time 

 to realise anything, so a hedgehog, finding in its 

 route a twelve -foot drop into a quarry or over 

 a boundary wall, will unhesitatingly topple over, 

 striking the earth like a ball, and remaining rolled 

 up till it comes to rest, when it coolly uncurls and 

 trots off in search of insects. Hedgehogs are, 

 indeed, fond of rolling and tumbling, and their 

 spines are so designed that even a heavy blow 

 delivered on the business extremity does not cause 

 them to penetrate at the roots. 



A friend of mine in Northamptonshire kept a 

 tame hedgehog in his garden, and one day, when 

 the creature was prospecting among the wall- 

 newel's that grew in the mud-coping of the ancient 

 garden wall, it caused great distress to my friend's 

 children by losing its balance and falling. Con- 

 vinced that their pet must be badly injured, the 

 children were rather surprised when the hedgehog 

 promptly mounted to the top of the wall by the 



