FOOD OF THE HEDGEHOG. 107 
kitchen garden, where the bean and pea sticks were laid up in ordinary 
during the greater part of the year, and it seemed, for some unknown reason, 
to afford a marvellous attraction to the Hedgehog. So partial to this locality 
was the creature, that whenever it was missing we were nearly sure to find it 
among the bean-sticks in the wood-shed. One morning, however, on search- 
ing for the animal, in consequence of having missed its presence for some 
days, we found it hanging by its neck in the fork of a stick, and quite dead. 
The poor creature had probably slipped while climbing among the sticks, and 
had been caught by the neck in the bifurcation. 
The Hedgehog is accused of stealing and breaking eggs, to which indict- 
ment it can but plead guilty. 
lt is very ingenious inits method of opening and eating eggs ; a feat which 
it performs without losing any of the golden contents. Instead of breaking 
the shell and running the chance of permitting the contents to roll out, the 
clever animal lays the egg on the ground, holds it firmly between its fore-feet, 
bites a hole in the upper portion of the shell, and, inserting its tongue into 
the orifice, licks out the contents daintily. 
Not contenting itself with such comparatively meagre diet as eggs, the 
Hedgehog is a great destroyer of snakes, frogs, and other animals, crunching 
them together with their bones as easily as a horse will eat a carrot. Even 
the thick bone of a mutton chop, or the big bone of the fish, is splintered by 
the Hedgehog’s teeth with marvellous ease. On one account it is rather a 
valuable animal, for it will attack a viper as readily as a grass-snake, trusting 
apparently to its prickly armour as a defence against the serpent’s fangs. 
Whether, in its wild state, it is able to catch the little birds, is not accurately 
known, but in captivity it eats finches and other little birds with great 
voracity. One of these animals, that was kept in a state of domestication, 
ate no less than seven sparrows in the course of a single night, and another 
of these creatures crushed and ate in the course of twenty-four hours 
more than as many sparrow. heads, eating bones, bill, and neck with equal 
ease. 
Its legitimate prey is found among the insect tribe, of which it consumes 
vast numbers, being able, not only to chase and capture those which run upon 
the ground, but even dig in the earth and feed upon the grubs, worms, and 
various larvee which pass their lives beneath the surface of the ground. A 
Hedgehog has been seen to exhume the nest of the humblebee, which had 
been placed in a sloping bank, as is often the case with the habitation of 
these insects, and to eat bees, grubs, and honey, unmindful of the anger of 
the survivors, who, however, appeared to be but little affected by the inroads 
which the Hedgehog was making upon their offspring and their stores. 
The home of the Hedgehog is made in some retired and well-protected 
spot, such asa crevice in rocky ground, or under the stones of some old ruin, 
It greatly affects hollow trees, wherever the decayed wood permits it to find 
an easy entrance, and not unfrequently is found coiled up in a warm nest 
which it has made under the large gnarled roots of some old tree, where the 
rains have washed away the earth and left the roots projecting occasionally 
from the ground. Besides these legitimate habitations, the Hedgehog is 
frequently found to intrude itself upon the homes of other animals, and has 
been often captured within rabbit burrows. Perhaps it may be led to these 
localities by the double motive of obtaining shelter from weather and enemies, 
and of making prey of an occasional young rabbit. 
In its retreat the Hedgehog usually passes the winter in that semi-animate 
condition which is known by the name of hibernation. 
The hibernation of the Hedgehog is more complete than that of the dor- 
mouse or any other of our indigenous hibernating quadrupeds, for they 
