478 THE BRITISH NATURE BOOK 



the warmth. There had been two other creatures in that fortunate position 

 my dog and a cat. Spines had evidently ousted them both, or had pushed 

 his way between them, with such prickly persuasiveness that they had left him 

 in peace. At any rate, there he was, and the cat's dignity was badly hurt, whilst 

 Tiny (the dog) was furious. 



I put Spines back in the basket on the table, and sat down to watch what 

 would happen. In a minute or two the basket began to wobble and contort itself, 

 and finally turned over and fell to the floor. Spines emerged with slow and jerky 

 steps, rolled across the room, and sat down on the rug again. 



After that I thought he showed such character, to say nothing of a real apprecia- 

 tion of home comforts, that I decided to keep him, and he was duly introduced 

 to the household by his name of Mr. Spines. 



He lived with me quite a long time, and became perfectly tame. I cannot 

 say that he was a very cleanly pet ; as a matter of fact he had no manners ; but 

 if you must keep such creatures about your study you must take the consequences. 



He was also infested with vermin, as most hedgehogs are ; but I took care 

 that he should be kept decently clean, and should have his bath regularly. It 

 was not difficult to rid him of his numerous undesirable guests, and I believe Spines 

 came to appreciate the water on that account. At least he enjoyed sitting in his 

 bath and letting " the water free curl through the twisted roots." He did not like 

 the water too deep, though he could swim remarkably well if he had to, when he 

 looked very much like a water-rat, lying strangely flat upon the water, with 

 little but his snout out very different from his usual hump-backed appearance on 

 dry ground. 



I did not allow Spines to find his own meals by eating all the black beetles 

 that is, cockroaches he could catch in my kitchen ; but I have, before now, 

 heard of people who thought that this was all that was necessary in providing 

 for then: little scavenger. Some years ago I was actually asked why a domestic 

 hedgehog had died. I had to point out that a kitchen full of cockroaches was 

 hardly a nourishing diet for Erinaceus europ&us (you must talk learnedly with some 

 people !), and that their specimen had died simply of starvation. 



Mr. Spines shared his meals with us, for he had an omnivorous appetite, and 

 ate anything in the way of scraps and cooked vegetables. He was not therefore 

 a difficult pet to keep, and I added a saucer of bread and milk, to which he was 

 very partial. When I brought the saucer into the room after breakfast and tapped 

 upon the edge, Spines would emerge from his corner always the same corner, 

 under the bookcase (I never knew him give that up, except on the night when 

 my badger but that is another story) and would drink out of the saucer whilst 

 I held it. Sometimes he would rear himself up on his short hind-legs, looking 

 not unlike a thorny cat, and put his front feet in the milk (he was an untidy feeder). 



He would also eat any kind of insect, spiders, snails, and worms. I have no 

 doubt that he would have tackled frogs ; but I did not provide him with any 

 nor with eggs, though in a wild state hedgehogs are said to be fond of them. 



It was rather horrible to see him eat a worm, for it took some time, and was 

 slowly crunched from one end to the other before being chewed and swallowed. 



I had read some interesting accounts of the way in which the hedgehog is said 

 to attack adders and kill them, much after the way of the immortal Rikki-tikki- 

 tavi, and when a dead grass snake came into my possession I tried it on Spines. 

 At first he took no notice ; but when I pretended to make it dart at him he rolled 



