n6 THE KEEPERS BOOK 



on the Ladykirk estate, in Berwickshire. The hen was 

 sitting by the roadside, where she was seen daily by 

 passers-by "in the know." On nearing the spot one 

 evening, my attention was attracted by seeing the 

 pheasant flying, or rather jumping up, flapping her 

 wings, and making a chirring noise. On going forward, 

 I found the eggs scattered in all directions, and some 

 of them smashed in the scuffle, while a hedgehog was 

 regaling himself in the nest. Discovering my presence, 

 he gradually curled himself into a bristly ball ; but, 

 needless to say, he got short shrift. 



The hedgehog has been known to kill very young 

 hares and rabbits, and even half-grown pheasants. Not 

 only so, but it has frequently been found entering coops 

 and killing barn-door hens while acting as foster-mothers 

 to young pheasants. The hedgehog's staple foods are 

 snails, slugs, and beetles, but, as already mentioned, it 

 is fond of flesh and eggs. Many people assert that it 

 devours fruit, but, so far as my experience goes, and 

 I have dissected the stomachs of a large number, it 

 does not eat anything of a vegetable nature except small 

 quantities of grass, which, I presume, are swallowed 

 when it is grubbing for beetles among the roots. 



Another enemy to game is the rat. After the rat is 

 full-grown it acquires an appetite for flesh, and kills any 

 young game it may come across, whether it be winged 

 or four-footed. Rats are becoming a much more formid- 

 able enemy of the game-preserver than they used to be, 

 as now they are burrowing more in hedgerows, so that 



