TH£ HEDGEHOG. 



times lick the hand of his feeder ; tiioagh it is not be denifld 

 that he has his tempers, and is sometimes surly, and conse- 

 quently very prickly. He was extremely light when he first 

 came into our possession, but after a course of good feeding 

 he became quite fat, and spread considerably in his propor- 

 tions. In a fortnight he had cleared away every beetle on 

 the premises, though previously we had tried every known anti- 

 dote to destroy these pests. Cucumber-paringsi, which they 

 devoured, and which did not kiU them — as we had been assured 

 they would; pans of beer, with little ladders to give them access 

 to the liquor, which they drank and ran away again, the topers, 

 instead of, as we fondly hoped, drowning themselves in the strong 

 drink. Peter knocked them all off, and' wanted more, judging 

 from the noise he made every night after dark, resembling a 

 cat walking about in walnut-shells; indeed, Peter at first 

 alarmed us considerably by knocking about the saucepans and 

 kitchen utensils with a force which once or twice convinced 

 us that housebreakers were on a visit. He made these noises, 

 we found, in researches after rats and mice, with which, in its 

 free state, the hedgehog satisfies its carnivorous instincts. 

 It is, indeed, more valuable in the destruction of rats than 

 either cat or dog. Descending one morning early iato the 

 kitchen inhabited by Peter, we were horrified on seeing the 

 floor soiled with large spots of blood, and markings of claw- 

 like feet in the same sanguine colour. We examined the cat, who 

 was suspected of being secretly an enemy to Peter ; but puss was 

 perfectly serene and unwounded. Then the hedgehog was 

 dragged out of his hole, and, to our dismay, we found the 

 poor creature's eyes were closed, one of them being apparently 

 torn out. The carcase of a rat, half-devoured, being dis- 

 covered, we came to the conclusion that the creatures had been 

 engaged in mortal conflict, iu which poor Peter had lost hia 

 beautiful eyes — eyes of dark blue, which, though not over 

 bright, were nice intelligent eyes. We were sorry to think 

 that for the rest of his days he must grope in the dark ; but, 

 in a month's time Peter had perfectly recovered his eyesight, 

 even the orb where only a vacuum could be seen. 



" Peter has become a household pet ; but truth demands that 

 we should not conceal his faults. He is by no means cleanly 

 in his habits; he is untidy in his eating, and is positively 

 addicted to thieving. In winter he never appears to be warm 

 enough, but goes about foraging fbr bedclothes — stealing all 

 the stray towels, house-flannels, and pieces of cloth and 



