Volume 22, Plate V / Mammalia (Mammals)

Hedgehog

Erinaceus Europæus

A small animal about ten inches long, with conical muzzle, oblong convex body, very short legs and ears, the upper parts and sides clad in sharp ringed spines, the face and underparts in stiff and woolly hairs. Reposing by day under roots or banks, it comes abroad at night for insects, snails, slugs, worms, and fallen fruit, rolls into an impervious ball when threatened, and passes winter torpid in a nest of leaves.