Hedgehog

“ As he was but young, though he appeared more than half-grown, I suppose he had never seen a hedgehog before, or he would not have acted so imprudently, for he pounced upon this ball of spines as he would upon a rabbit, or a pheasant, but he soon found out his mistake, and retreated to a little distance, howling dismally, and licking his bleeding lips and nose. ”

“ Clumsy and stubby as it is, with legs so short and claws useless for climbing, how could it manage an athletic feat that calls for agility, hooked claws, and supple limbs? No, my friend, the hedgehog does not climb trees, neither does it carry off fruit transfixed with its spines. The only vestige of truth in that old wives’ tale is that hedgehogs do not live exclusively on prey; if they find fruit that they like on the ground, a very ripe pear or a juicy peach, for example, they munch it with as great contentment as they would a beetle or a June-bug. ”

“ Snip.—"I don't like the look of those prickles."
Hedgehog.—"Don't be a coward, Snip! Put your nose down, and feel of my nice soft back."
Whether the cunning hedgehog really cheated him by any such remarks as these, I cannot say. But Snip at last mustered courage enough to put his nose down to the ball. Rash Snip! Up rose the bristles, and pricked him so that he ran back to the house, howling and yelping as if he had been shot.
Having put Snip to flight, the hedgehog quietly unrolled itself, thrust out its queer little head with the long snout, and crept along on its way rejoicing. ”

“ Then, in a flash, that owl was upon her back, wielding hooked beak and stiletto talons, as only she knew how to use them; and the hedgehog, who had, in the blindness of his rage, run in to finish the job, shot up clean on his hind-legs, taking the clinging, flapping owl with him, while, for the first time that night, he uttered a cry other than a grunt—an odd, piercing little cry, vibrant with rage, or fear, or both. This was rather odd, because ordinarily the hedgehog is a dumb beast, who suffers "frightfulness" in grim silence. ”

“ The Hedgehog in its natural state only feeds on pears, apples, and other fruits when it can get nothing it likes better.
The Hedgehog hybernates regularly, and early in [Pg 107] the summer brings forth from two to four young ones at a birth, which, at the time of their production, are blind, and have the spines white, soft, and flexible. The nest wherein they are cradled is said to be very artificially constructed, the roof being rain-proof. ”

“ Then the Hedgehog wakens also, and reduces their numbers; for it is with such fare, plus insects, worms, mice, rats, frogs, lizards and snakes, that the Hedgehog maintains his portliness. He passes the day under a heap of dead leaves or moss in a spinney or thick hedgerow, and the solitary observer in such places may sometimes be guided to this retreat by his snoring!
[Pg 10] The winter time is spent as a rule in continued sleep; though he has been known on mild nights in winter to wake up and prowl around for the very few good things then to be found. ”

“ Bordering the furze a thick hawthorn hedge—a double mound—extends, so wide as to be itself almost another copse. In the ‘rowetty’ grass on the bank or in the hollow places, under fallen leaves and trailing ivy, the hedgehog hides during the day, so completely concealed that while the sun shines it is extremely difficult to find one without a dog. ”

“ Extremely feeble from cold and privation, [Pg 394] and knowing, as all Nature's wildlings seem to know, that sunlight brings with it health and strength, she presently left the shadow of the tree-trunk, and, closing her eyes, basked in complete enjoyment of the balmy day. The heat and the gentle wind soon dried her armour of spines and surcoat of leaves. Stealing in through the tunnel left open when the hedgehog came forth from her sleep, the wind cleansed and ventilated the nest, and soon all traces of winter's mustiness had vanished from both herself and her home. ”

“ The hedgehog, not possessing so wide a range of hibernating temperature as the bat, which actually “hibernates” daily for a short time even during the hottest summers, is roused by an hour or two of warm sunshine such as we often experience about February. Awakened by the warmth, the hedgehog unrolls itself, creeps out of its refuge, and trundles (I know no better word to describe its peculiar pace) away in search of food. ”

“ Ordinarily the sight of a mere stupid hedgehog would never have stirred the wise herons, and they would simply have flown at him, flapping their great wings in his face, and sent him off. But as soon as they caught a glimpse of the strange appearing thing, all covered with leaves, and heard it actually cry out, with shrill, terrified screams they all spread their wings and flew off over the mountain, perfectly panic-stricken at the strange thing they had seen. It did not take the sly Unk-Wunk long to rid himself of the leaves, and plunge into the pool which he now had all to himself. ”

“ The Hedgehog is a more omnivorous creature than Gymnura. It eats not only insects and slugs, but also chickens and young game birds, and lastly vipers. Four, or in some cases as many as five or six, young are produced at a birth; they are blind, with soft and flexible white spines. In hot and dry weather Hedgehogs disappear; they come forth in rainy weather. The English Hedgehog, as is well known, hibernates. The Indian species do not. ”

“ The hedgehog, whose phlegmatic disposition and special armament allowed him the luxury of never being surprised at anything, promptly and literally shut up, so that long before the viper thing had unhooked his nose and was waving his forward part about over the hedgehog, with murder in his eye and death behind his flickering tongue, looking for a place to strike home, old hedgehog was rolled up, and snuffling and snoring away inside there, like an old man chuckling when he has just cried "Mate!" ”

“ The Hedgehog generally resides in small thickets and hedges; lives on fruits, worms, beetles, and all kinds of insects; it conceals itself in the day, and feeds only during the night. This animal is provided by nature with a prickly armour, which defends it from the attacks of all the smaller beasts of prey. When alarmed, it immediately collects itself into the form of a ball, and presents on all sides a surface covered with sharp points, which few animals are hardy enough to engage. The more it is harassed, the closer it rolls itself. ”

“ Hereupon the hedgehog departed, for the hare was quite satisfied with this. On his way the hedgehog thought to himself, "The hare relies on his long legs, but I will contrive to get the better of him. He may be a great man, but he is a very silly fellow, and he shall pay for what he has said." So when the hedgehog reached home, he said to his wife, "Wife, dress thyself quickly, thou must go out to the field with me." ”

“ They have now become so common in this district that a hedgehog is no more accounted a rarity than is a stoat or a weasel. Hedgehogs are fond of making their cozy nests of moss, grass fibres, and fallen leaves, near the roots of trees and bushes growing on the banks of rivers and mountain streams. ”

“ A hedgehog is a rough and prickly fellow—better his prickles than the reptile's poisonous slime. The tales that yet await the novelist who has courage (what is his name, by the way?) , who has the insight to see behind those Venetian blinds and white curtains, who has the word that can give him entrance through the polished door by the encaustic porch! ”

“ For the hedgehog, if closely pursued, takes hold of its ears with its hind paws and, tucking its nose into the middle of its stomach, rolls itself into a perfect ball. The spines then stand out straight and in every direction equally. ”

“ The Hedgehog makes himself a nest of leaves and soft wool for the winter, in the hollow trunk of an old tree, or in a hole in a rock or bank; and here, having coiled himself up, he passes the winter in one long unbroken sleep. Hedgehogs may easily be tamed, and are sometimes kept in the kitchens in London houses to destroy the black-beetles. The flesh of the Hedgehog is sometimes eaten; especially by gipsies, who appear to consider it a delicacy. It is said to be well-tasted, and to have abundance of yellow fat. ”

“ For a while after her awakening, the hedgehog fed chiefly on the big earthworms which, induced by the increasing warmth, forsook the deep recesses of their burrows, and tunnelled immediately beneath the grass-roots, coming forth at night to lie outstretched amid the undergrowth. ”

“ The hedgehog bore on his back clear tokens of his last retreat. A dozen withered leaves were clinging to his spines. The nearest pile of such lay heaped against the hen-house. The hedgehog footed through the knotgrass slowly, grubbing with his snout to right and left of [Pg 197] him. Sometimes, when cover failed, he broke into a bow-legged run.
The squirrel came from high up in the beech tree—the second fork from the top. There he had built what he called a nest, but what humans, with greater nicety of diction, call a drey. Speak not of squirrel’s “nest” to sportsmen ”

“ The young of the hedgehog, which are usually four in number, do not look in the least like their parents, and you might easily mistake them for young birds; for their spikes are very soft and white, so that they look much more like growing feathers. The little creatures are not only blind, but also deaf, for several days after birth, and they cannot roll themselves up till they have grown somewhat. The mother animal always makes a kind of warm nest to serve as a nursery, and thatches it so carefully that even a heavy shower of rain never seems to soak its way through. ”

“ The voracity of the Hedgehog is very great. A female, with a young one, was placed in a kitchen, having the run of the beetles at night, besides having always bread and milk within their reach. One day, however, the servants heard a mysterious crunching sound in the kitchen, and found, on examination, that nothing was left of the young Hedgehog but the skin and prickles—the mother had devoured her little pig! A Hedgehog has also been known to eat a couple of rabbits which had been confined with it, and killing others; it has likewise been known to kill hares. ”

“ HEDGEHOG. The hare will run in the other furrow. When he comes to your end, put up your head and say, "I am already here."
WIFE. Ha, ha! He will think that I am you.
HEDGEHOG. Exactly.
WIFE. Ha, ha, ha! I go, Mr. Hedgehog! I go! You may be short on legs, my dear, but you are long on brains.
[She runs to other end of furrow. Mr. Hedgehog goes to his end.]
[The HARE enters.]
HARE. Well, are you ready?
HEDGEHOG. I am ready.
HARE. One, two, three, go!
[The Hare runs swiftly. The Hedgehog sits. The Hare reaches the other end of his furrow. The Wife puts up her head.] ”

“ Hedgehog.
Their spines are quite white at this age; and they have little hanging ears, which I do not remember to be discernible in the old ones. They can, in part, at this age draw their skin down over their faces; but are not able to contract themselves into a ball, as they do, for the sake of defence, when full grown. ”

“ The hedgehog, on the approach of winter, constructs a nest in some suitable place, where it becomes torpid and hibernates. On the advent of spring, it becomes active once more, and during summer produces a litter of four young ”

“ We should not, perhaps, fancy a hedgehog capable of gymnastic feats, but it is an animal with rather a liking for a wall-climb, and has been known to mount one that was nine feet high, aided by creepers on the wall. Another has been noticed to climb an ordinary wall, laying hold of little projections. Upon a search for a missing hedgehog, he was found at the bottom of the stairs, having made a nest under the stair-carpet. ”

“ In reality, they belong to two very different orders, the hedgehog being classed with the shrew-mice and moles, while the Porcupine is a rodent animal, and is classed with the rats, rabbits, beavers, marmots, and other rodents.
It is quite as common in Palestine as the hedgehog, a fact which increases the probability that the two animals may have been mentioned under a common title. Being a nocturnal animal, it retires during the day-time to some crevice in a rock or burrow in the ground, and there lies sleeping until the sunset [114] awakens it and calls it to action. ”

“ If my readers look into any system of mammalia of recent date, under the article Erinaceus, he will see one or more instances of concealed allusions to touchiness of disposition in the persons of the naturalists, honoured by the seeming compliment. The hedgehog is itself a very useful and very harmless quadruped. It is of great use in a garden, and also in a kitchen frequented by crickets or black-beetles. Its food is chiefly grubs, insects, worms, and such like. The creature is easily tamed, and becomes a lovable and not a touchy pet. It is eminently nocturnal. ”

“ The hedgehog was engaged in a fight with another hedgehog, which seemed to Alice an excellent opportunity for croqueting one of them with the other: the only difficulty was, that her flamingo was gone across to the other side of the garden, where Alice could see it trying in a helpless sort of way to fly up into a tree. ”

“ THE HEDGEHOG. (Erinaceus Europæus.)
This animal is something like a porcupine in miniature, and is covered all over with strong and sharp spines or prickles, which he erects when irritated. His common food consists of worms, slugs, and snails; and thus, far from being a noxious animal in a garden, he is a very useful one, as he feeds upon all the insects he can find. Hedgehogs inhabit most parts of Europe. Notwithstanding its formidable appearance, it is one of the most harmless animals in the world. ”