TEE HEDGEHOQ. 



roaches, not -anfrequently with rats, and mice, and spiderB. Now 

 bU your beetle-traps, rat-traps, mouse ditto, poisons, or infalli- 

 ble insect-powders are as nothing compared to the services of 

 a hedgehog, who wiU clear the kitchen and cellars in a very 

 short space of time. Londoners have become aware of the ser- 

 viceable nature of this creature ; but when, in answer to some 

 complaint of a neighbour about being tormented with black 

 beetles, we have advised the keeping of a hedgehog, we have 

 generally met with the reply, ' But we never can get one to 

 live, they always die in a month.' 



" At first, this used to perplex us greatly ; and when we, 

 in our turn, began to suffer upder this beetJe grievance, the 

 experience of our neighbours deterred us from trying our own 

 remedy. At length, the enemy grew so bold and increased so 

 greatly in force, that one day, in pure desperation, we deter- 

 mined to provide a hedgehog, and bought one accordingly in 

 LeadenhaU Market. When we got him home, we christened 

 him Peter, and gave him a mansion beneath a disused kitchen 

 copper, with plenty of hay, a large supply of water, and a good 

 supper of bread-and-milk, which we had always been told 

 was amply sufficient to satisfy the cravings of the creature's 

 appetite. 



" We soon discovered why our acquaintance could not keep 

 their hedgehog ahve. Belonging to the order Oarrvimora, 

 these animals, when in a domestic state, rarely have any meat 

 given them. Many persons, indeed, have a fixed notion that 

 the vermin they destroy is sufficient to sustain life, or they 

 vaguely attribute to the hedgehog the fabled chameleon ability 

 of living on air. 



" One of our family who has a passion for every creature 

 belonging to animal nature, undertook to tame Peter, and 

 ascertain his likings, tastes, and habits. Of course she fed 

 him ; that is the first key to animal affection. He soon came 

 to recognize the hand on which" he depended for daily food.l 

 Ho makes but one meal per diem, and that about one o'clock 

 p.m. ; and if the hour goes by without his food beiiig placed, 

 he utters a peculiar noise, resembling a grunt, sneezes fre- 

 quently with the force and fervency of a oat, and testifies much 

 uneasiness. He requires meat pretty frequently, and is very 

 partial to a bone with a good deal on it. He unrolls himseK 

 at the touch of his mistress, and places his bristles down, so 

 that she can stroke him ; he will even play occasionally, 

 stretching out his paws — so like a monkey's-i -and will Home- 



