Charm of the hoglet

My acquaintance with the hedgehog began at an early age. We lived in a big old house with a large garden entirely surrounded by a brick wall, so that harmless animals we wished to keep as pets could be safely given their freedom.

As the fowl were kept in runs, my father always liked to have a hedgehog or two running loose to keep down slugs, snails and caterpillars, which they did so effectively that we often collected bags of snails elsewhere to add to their diet. They soon became quite tame and used to come to the