468 
Vermin of the Farm. 
wood, by the withy bed.’ I asked him if he was sure it was crows. ‘ Come 
and see for yourself,’ was the answer. I went, and sure enough there were 
nine eggs destroyed out of fifteen. They appeared to have been bitten half 
through. It then came to my mind about the hedgehogs eating the duck’s 
eggs, and I was determined to find out and prove what it was destroying 
these eggs. I took the remaining six eggs home, and inserted a very small 
quantity of strychnine into each egg, and sealed them up again, and took 
them back to the nest where the others were destroyed. The next morning 
the man and I went to see if anything was there, when we found an 
immense hedgehog flat on his beliy, and very much swelled up, not a yard 
from the nest, and quite dead, and as if in tlie act of crawling away from 
the nest. Only two of the eggs were partially eaten. Is not this conclusive 
evidence that the hedgehog is a great enemy to the pheasant and par- 
tridge.?” 
Many similar instances might be quoted. 
Of its partiality for frogs the writer has been an eye witness. 
Some years ago he had two live hedgehogs which were tame 
enough to feed in his presence without manifesting any fear or 
timidity, and if he wished to make them lively, he ]iad only to 
introduce a frog into their hutch to rouse them to a pitch of 
excitement. They would then rush upon the unfortunate frog, 
and, fighting for it like two dogs over a bone, would tear it 
limb from limb and quickly devour it. Needless to say that, 
after the first frog had been introduced alive by way of experi- 
ment, on subsequent occasions the frogs were supplied dead ; 
but the sequel was the same. The method of killing a snake 
was very different and displayed more caution, as if they Avere 
apprehensive that the snake might retaliate, jdie hedgcdiog 
would give the reptile a sharp bite, and then roll itself up in a 
ball ; after an interval, a second bite would be iiillicted, and 
again the animal would roll up ; after three or four such bites, 
the snake would be paralysed, perhaps dead, or very nearly so, 
and after another pause the hedgehog Avould commence to eat 
the snake, beginning at the tail and munching it up as one 
would eat a stick of celery. With a viper, still more caution is 
displayed ; for the latter invariably strikes at the hedgehog on 
being bitten, and it requires a remarkably quick “ shut up ” to 
avoid the viper’s fangs. The result in this case is very different ; 
the viper repeatedly strikes against the sharp spines of the 
hedgehog, and in so doing becomes lacerated to such an extent 
that it eventually succumbs to its self-inflicted injuries. 
The late Colonel J. Whyte, of Sligo, made some interesting 
observations, which are worth quoting, on the hedgehog’s mode 
of hunting, and the pace at which it can travel. He says : 
“ It so happens that there is an inner yard in my house, well flagged, 
about 35 feet square. Into this I turned a hedgehog the other day, andean 
see everything he does. I was much surprised to see the pace he goes, and 
