Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1897-10-28
THE. HEDGEHOG.
A Good Word For . Funny Little Animal.
Finding Its Food.

Few young people have good idea
Of the shape and appearance of hedge
hog. When we break the name into two
parts, we see the first tells us Of its
habits The hedgehog is a wild animal
which, if we come upon 1T at all, we
shall be likely to find running along a
tank under hedge The other half,
hog, means that he is piggish, in shape
ut least il not in greediness Although
he has had bad character given hI.n
for long time. he does not quite de-
serve what has been written against
him II he has faults. he has good quail
ties, too, and may be made useful.
The mother hedgchogs take great care
of their blind little ones, for they do
not see till week old At first they
are not spiny, but are covered with
rough hair Their cry to the mother is
shrill and rather like the note Of
child's whistle The nett is in some
hole. and it is their usual habit to sleep
through the winter rolled up snug and
warm When kept in confinement, they
do not sleep IA soundly as when in the
wild state. but wake up now and then
between autumn and spring, wanting
then somthing to cat This torpid state
in winter shows that they feed chiefly
upon insects which, Of course are not
to be had III cold weather except hv
digging Vt any time 81 the year hedge
hogs seldom goout hunting during day
light
Whom it is needful tn protect himself
from dogs or other foes, the hedgehog
has plan Of his own. and an excellent
one too Some animals run away from
their enemies. or they hide themselves
Some try - T hit them The hedgehog
forms himself INTO prickly ball and
waits till his enemy Is tired of rolling
him ABOUT In the sp!n"s II the hedge
hog we sec there /, liahtness as we'll as
strength Tho inside of each spine Is
elastic aud each fits INTO a muscle
winch hits or lowers 1t Owing to its
spncs hedgehog can jump from a
height II 10 ar II feet without be
ing hurt People sometimes speak OF
hcd-ehngs a. # they We're slow quad
ruptas. tut their pace |, really qul k
They are fond OF waier. and float upon
1t with delight When tanned, "A hedIr-
hog Will let himself be washed, and If
he knows the person he lowers his quilts
So as not To hurt the hand of the washer
Some folk have SAID that hedgehoEs
suck the milk from cows. but that /,
reail, an impossible thing for them to
do A lso they have been accused OF
sucking the eggs Of poultry, but this Is
doubtful \ gentleman who kept one u
good while tried HIM with eggs OF all
sizes. but he would not touch any Of
them \ hedgehog has been caught III
the act Of feastiug himself upon store
Of apples in barn, and some Of these
animals must plead guilty to killing
young rabbits or birds which come with
i'll reach Insects. snails and such small
fry are their chief food II a hedgehog
gets hold of soft insect, he bites 1t up
at once. Should it be hard. he steadles
himself and holds the insect in his
paws to nibblc at 1t slowly One OF the
good things which the hedgehog does Is
that it kills yIpcrs When these come
in the way, there Is a tough fight be
tween the quadruped and the snake, but
the hedgehog always conquers, for he
is we'll protected from the sting
People sometimes keep hcdgchogs IN
their houses or iii gardens for the pur-
pose Of destroying insects which may
be- numerous and Troublesome, such as
the common black beetle or cockroach.
y hed-chog if kept IN the house, must
l. L.. 4 i,.tV a, Incl