THE HEDGEHOG OR URCHIN. 265 



abroad and is difficult to find. It remains noc- 

 turnal in its habits, but is abroad only for a short 

 time during the night. The drowsiness of winter 

 is taking a firmer and firmer hold ; but if the earth 

 be frost-bound, and the days bright and sunny, it 

 may steal out for a little during the warmth of 

 midday, though more probably it does not venture 

 out at all. 



Thereafter, till the middle of March, the life 

 of the urchin is more or less of a closed book. 

 Whether or not its sleep is generally unbroken 

 throughout the long winter is difficult to say. If 

 so, the hedgehog is rather an exception. Bats, 

 mice, squirrels, &c., which are supposed to hiber- 

 nate, take their hibernation less seriously than 

 is generally thought. If the conditions are in 

 any way favourable, they are up and abroad for 

 a brief spell of activity ; but certainly it would 

 seem that the hedgehog is the most truly hiber- 

 nating of all our mammals, and I am inclined 

 to think that if a hedgehog is abroad during the 

 winter, it was in such poor condition when it 

 denned up that it has found itself unable to stand 

 the long drainage on its strength. A healthy 

 hedgehog, in perfect condition when it denned, 

 probably does not emerge till the joyous spring 

 calls it back to the world of activity. 



THE DEN. 



A rabbit-stop generally serves as the hedgehog's 

 winter den. Into the den an immense quantity 

 of leaves is dragged, not only forming the nest, 

 but effectively excluding all draught by filling 

 up the passage. On one occasion we unearthed 

 a hibernating hedgehog. The mouth of the 

 small hole was so filled with decaying leaves 



