THE HEDGEHOG OR URCHIN 6i 



It is still eagerly sought after by gypsies and others/ who are 

 very fond of it, but the few refined people who have tried it 

 give very contradictory accounts of its quality. Probably the 

 objections are due to prejudice, for Mr Pocock writes me that he 

 knows hedgehogs to be delicious eating, having supped off them 

 in the Balearic Islands ; and Mr Owen Jones gives directions ^ 

 for broiling them, taken at first hand from the gypsies; he 

 remarks that you are lucky if you can obtain them in late 

 autumn, for by that time they have encased themselves in fat 

 against the days of their winter sleeping. 



It is not at all certain how carnivorous mammals over- 

 come the defensive armour, but there can be no question that 

 they do so at least occasionally. It frequently happens also 

 that a well-trained dog is found bold and active enough to 

 " open " a hedgehog, at the expense of a bloody nose and sorely 

 pricked paws. The siege is often of long duration, and 

 success in some cases probably results rather from relaxation 

 of its guard on the part of the tired victim than from the 

 actual victory of brute force. The smallest grip on the 

 unprotected portions of the body is decisive. A clever plan of 

 campaign is described by Mr J. G. Millais, who once observed 

 a dog kill one of these animals by scratching away with the 

 nails of his fore paws until he had made an entrance large 

 enough to fix one paw against the poor brute's chest. With 

 the other he drew up the head, forced it back, and a nip on the 

 • throat finished the tragedy. 



The Fox, the Badger,* and the Polecat are all credited with 

 the power of despatching the Hedgehog, in the last case on the 

 authority of H. A. Macpherson. He is not, however, very 

 definite, and merely remarks that two of his correspondents 



' As in Essex, ^i«!? H. Laver, in lit. 



^ In Woodcraft, 1910, 147 ; as did F. T. Buckland in Curiosities of Natural 

 History, edition of 1879, series 2, 129, etc. ; and Millais also, from information sup- 

 plied by F. H. Groome. 



' " Few people are aware probably that its chief enemies are the badger and the fox. 

 Where they dwell hedgehogs are not likely to become too numerous." — J. E. Harting, 

 Vermin of the Farm, 1892, reprint, 35. There is a remarkable note in the Field of 

 23rd March 1B75 '• — "The pitiful wail of a hedgehog when caught by a badger is not 

 easily forgotten, for although he will curl himself up and be torn to pieces by a terrier 

 without a cry, the moment a badger approaches him he commences the most piteous 

 cries, and death seems long and painful, for the badger sucks the blood before 

 devouring the body." 



VOL. II. E 2 



