164 
The Balance of Nature . 
[April, 
help expressing our surprise that Mr. Morant should not 
have taken the trouble to make himself a little better ac- 
quainted with the habits of the unfortunate animal he so 
sweepingly condemns. We admit that Hoggie is semi- 
carnivorous, and preys to some extent upon eggs and young 
birds — when he can catch them. We have known him de- 
vour chickens. We have it on good authority that a tame 
hedgehog once seized a kitten, which was with difficulty 
rescued by its exasperated mother. We fear that the stories 
of his occasional raids upon strawberries and windfall apples 
and pears have some foundation in faCt, although no affirm- 
ative instance ever came under our own observation. But 
in spite of all such transgressions the scale must turn in his 
favour. He is not “ supposed,” but proved, to devour in- 
serts, as was recorded by old Gilbert White, who found 
fragments of the elytra of beetles among his excreta. His 
propensity for destroying cockroaches and crickets is known 
even to the veriest Cockney whose acquaintance with the 
British fauna was ever gleaned among the bird-fanciers of 
Whitechapel or of the Seven Dials. The hedgehog’s share 
of work can never be satisfactorily performed by the birds, 
however they may be multiplied. He gobbles up slugs and 
snails in the night, their chief time for doing mischief, when 
the blackbird and thrush are fast asleep, with their heads 
tucked under their wings, and dreaming perhaps of ripe 
cherries ; he hunts for inserts in the bottoms of hedges, and 
even under ground, where birds are little likely to take up 
the chase. Hence he is now officially recognised by the 
French Government as an “ agricultural labourer ” whose 
preservation is formally and urgently recommended. But 
he has still higher claims. Long ago he has been known to 
be the chief destroyer of the viper, playing in Europe a part 
similar to that of the secretary-hawk in Africa, and of the 
mungus in India. Dr. Lenz, a most able and accurate 
German observer, who studied natural history from a prac- 
tical point of view, placed the snake-eating habits of the 
hedgehog beyond all doubt. We have repeatedly witnessed 
Hoggie tackling a viper, and can testify that the bites of the 
snake, though they occasionally took effect upon the snout 
of his enemy, had no more influence than the prick of a 
needle. The result of the combat was never doubtful, the 
viper being invariably crunched up with an evident relish. 
We have known a belt of forest, where we had bagged many 
a viper, to be cleared of these reptiles by a pair of hedge- 
hogs who had taken up their quarters and reared their brood 
there. According to a paragraph in “ Land and Water,” — 
