214 HISTORY OP THE 



V. — History of the Early Life of a Hedgehog. By Miss Abbs. 

 Communicated by John Hancock. 



On the evening of the 30th of June, 1886, we found two very 

 young hedgehogs near the kitchen garden, at Oatlands, where 

 the gardener had been mowing the long grass among the shrubs, 

 and had no doubt disturbed the nest. The young hedgehogs 

 were not able to see or feed themselves, and as their parents 

 could not be found we took them into the house, and a system 

 of feeding them had to be established. Miss Abbs, who was 

 our -visitor at the time, took them in charge, and arranged a 

 sucking apparatus, which answered very well. It was made 

 out of a quill, with a piece of perforated wash leather tied on to 

 the end, so that the little creatures could suck it. The milk 

 was diluted with a little warm water, slightly sweetened with 

 sugar, and after a little careful teaching they soon learned to 

 suck it through the quill. They were attended to at night as 

 well as in the daytime, and fed every two or three hours. 



To distinguish them, one was called Billy, the other one Peter. 

 From tbe first Peter was the strongest. Both continued to thrive 

 until the 3rd of July, when Billy began to refuse its food, but 

 by the perseverance of their foster-parent he was kept alive until 

 the 8th, when it was found dead in its beautiful soft nest of 

 moss. I stuffed this pretty little creature, but its death was 

 mourned by the whole household. Miss Abbs left Oatlands on 

 the 12th of July, to go on a visit into Lincolnshire, and of course 

 took Peter with her, so we lost sight of him for a few weeks, and 

 his history must be continued in extracts from her letters about 

 him. He had just got his eyes open when he left Oatlands, but 

 as he was still very young he had to be fed twice on the journey 

 — at King's Cross and at Louth. 



"We heard on the 18th of July that he had got some front 

 teeth, is thriving nicely, and follows his nurse about the garden, 

 where she takes him every evening, that he may enjoy his natural 

 insect food, and eats beetles, moths, and white slugs, which she 

 catches for him, he running after her in expectation of them. 



