WILD CREATURES OF GARDEN AND HEDGEROW 



Unexpected things, in every species there 

 occur individuals whose habits and conduct 

 are not those of their fellows, and very often it 

 is these that earn a bad name for their kind. 

 It is so with the hedgehog. People will tell 

 you that it kills fowls, rabbits, sucks eggs, and 

 so on. There is even a tale in some parts of 

 the country that at night the hedgehog goes 

 up to the cows as they lie sleeping in the 

 meadows and sucks the milk ! How such a 

 thing could ever be believed I cannot under- 

 stand. You have only to look at the sharp little 

 pin-pointed teeth with which the hedgehog is 

 armed to know it is impossible, for no cow 

 would ever endure those sharp points pulling 

 at her teats. Besides, how could a hedgehog 

 learn about milking cows ! Very likely the 

 silly story has originated from the fact that 

 where there are many cattle there are usually 

 lots of insects ; the ' cow-pats ' attract numbers 

 of dung-beetles, which of all things are what 

 the urchin likes best, and such a spot will 

 provide it with an excellent night's hunting, 

 nosing about, turning over the manure, and 

 finding the insects and their fat white grubs. 

 If a person who knew nothing of hedgehogs and 

 their ways saw it busy in this manner, that 

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