liberties. If we meet him in the road, 

 instantl}' his head disappears, and we 

 see but a round ball apparently stuck 

 full of long- needles, with every point 

 straig-ht towards us. There is no chance 

 of playfully slapping him on the back 

 and giving him an "Hello, old boy." 

 He will not utter a sound, or even nod, 

 nor will he give us one inch of the right 

 of way. There he stays fixed, and all 

 we can do is to walk around him and 

 leave the unsociable fellow to himself. 

 To dogs, he is, as yet, an unsolved 

 problem. One moment, on first sight, 

 he is a subject to be tackled for battle 

 or mere sport, but the next he is a 

 mysterious an,d painful one, to be left 

 severely alone forever after. 



The hedgehog strolls along in a 

 don't care when I get there manner; 

 plainly, his short, bandy legs were not 

 built for racing. If he happens to be 

 on the top of a hill he rolls himself 

 up in a ball and lets go. Arrived down 

 at the foot, he unrolls himself and pro- 

 ceeds on his way as though this were 

 the 'usual method of getting at the bot- 

 tom of things. His habits of life are 

 nocturnal. He lives in a hole in the 

 hedge, or burrows himself in a heap 

 of leaves, and sleeps the day away in 

 owl-like seclusion; but when night 

 comes, he is up and doing. He is an 

 insectivore. Hard-shelled beetles is his 

 favorite diet, but, like the human tramp, 

 he knows how to adapt himself to cir- 

 cumstances and be thankful for almost 

 any sort of a "hand out." In winter, 

 when hand outs are altogether too few, 

 he elevates his spines and rolls himself, 

 over and over, in leaves until he has 

 stuck himself all about with a thick 

 blanket; then he goes to sleep until 

 spring opens again. He is a queer 

 looking- object at most any time, but 

 when he wakes up and ambles forth 

 from his winter's nap, with his blanket 

 sticking in tatters all about him, he is 

 decidedly funny. 



Like the opossum, the hedgehog is 

 a savory dish for some palates. But 

 it's catching before eating. One way 

 is to push a shovel under him and throw 

 him in a pond and drown him. Then, 



witli the shovel, place him in a fire 

 until his hide, along with his Dristles 

 can be peeled off with pincers. 



The globe-fish — the sea-hedgehog — 

 has also the gift of being able to change 

 itself from the elongated shape, natural 

 whilst swimming, to a ball of bristling 

 prickles when danger threatens. It 

 rises instantly to the top of the water, 

 inflates itself with air, distending itself 

 into the shape of a globe. The skin 

 thus tightly stretched, the spines stand 

 defiantly out in every direction, form- 

 ing a radial ball as does its terrestial 

 analogue, the hedgehog. When thus 

 distended, the fish becomes top heavy, 

 and turns topsy-turvy, floating on its 

 back at the will of wind and waves. 

 When all danger is past, it expels the 

 air from its mouth in little gurgles, 

 until it again subsides into its normal 

 swimming state. Few enemies w^ould 

 dare attack a globe-fish when put thus 

 on the defensive, but it has been said 

 that live globe-fish have been found 

 inside the stomachs of large sharks — 

 it has even been said that globe-fish 

 have eaten their wa}^ out of sharks, but 

 we fear these are but questionable 

 stories. 



The prickly lizard, which lives in the 

 dry deserts of Asia and Australia, is 

 itself innocent and harmless, but is, 

 nevertheless, a formidable looking crea- 

 ture with sharp spears all over its back, 

 and barbed hooks, or horns, on its nose. 



Then there is an insignificent looking 

 caterpillar which seems but intent on 

 nibbling a few juicy leaves — the woolly- 

 bear caterpillar. Dare to touch him, 

 and instantly myriads of tiny, and 

 poisonous darts prick your skin, and 

 3^ou will suffer for hours because of 

 having taken a liberty with the innocent 

 (?) creature. 



There are a great many varieties of 

 animal and vegetable "sticklers"; and 

 of each a volume could be written; but 

 the lesson we may learn, briefly, is that, 

 if we search the histories of the science 

 of warfare we will find that the so-called 

 great geniuses have, in their inventions, 

 gone to mother Nature for practical 

 hints and ideas. 



Mary M. Stratner. 



157 



