166 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



good than harm, for it is not very active, and generally makes its 

 meals on creatures which are better out of the way. Fruit it will 

 also eat, and it is accused of sucking the udders of Cows ; this is no 

 doubt a fable, but it has been well pointed out that the little animal 

 would no doubt gladly lick up any drops of milk it might find oozing 

 from the udder of a Cow lying down. Its raids on eggs seem to be 

 confined to those of small birds, as it is apparently, unlike Mongooses, 

 Stoats, and Rats, unable to negotiate large ones like fowl's eggs. 



As a general rule, it goes about its business at night, but where 

 unmolested gets on the move long before darkness sets in. In autumn 

 it rolls itself up in a thick bed of leaves, and so sleeps away the 

 winter in its hole, but in exceptional cases it has been found awake 

 and on the move even in time of snow. The young, about half-a- 

 dozen in number, are born in late spring, and there is another litter 

 in early autumn. 



The Hedgehog is usually a very quiet animal, but occasionally 

 utters a squealing note, and is said to cry most pitifully when in the 

 grip of some enemy. One used to hear a good deal of its being 

 eaten, roasted in a ball of clay, by Gypsies, but it seems now to have 

 disappeared from their bill of fare — or, at all events, not to be so 

 widely appreciated as formerly. 



It is one of the most frequently kept in captivity of all British 

 animals, either simply as a pet, or in order that it may destroy 

 Cockroaches in kitchens and cellars — a very congenial task. It readily 

 eats bread-and-milk, meat, and other soft food, but is a dangerous 

 companion for other animals, if defenceless. Miss W. Austen, whose 

 beautiful work is well known to readers of this book, tells me that 

 she had a Hedgehog which long lived in friendship with a Common 

 Gull {Larus canus), but that when the animal died the Gull soon fell 

 a victim to the Hedgehog that succeeded it. 



Hedgehogs closely resembling our own species are found in 

 Europe, Africa, and Asia, and to the same family are assigned the 

 Rat-Shrew {Gymnura), which has the body, hairy coat, and long tail 

 of a Rat, with a Hedgehog's head. This animal comes from the East 



