Fig. 55.

A, Skull of an insect-eating animal (Insectivore), showing the numerous pointed teeth. B, Skull of a gnawing animal (Rodent) showing the large chisel teeth in front, and the gap between these and the hind teeth.

But these animals have another and quite a different set of companions, as you will learn if you are lucky enough, by looking carefully along the hedge, to startle a little shrew in its quest for worms, or to catch a hedgehog shuffling along at a sharp trot after his nightly meal of beetles, slugs, and snails; nay, you may even, if it be early summer, come across a mole, or find two fighting fiercely together for possession of the only thing they come to the upper world to fetch—a wife.

These creatures have not the long front chisels of the hare or the shrew; on the contrary, their mouth is small, and crowded with a number of fine pointed teeth (see A, Fig. 55), of which even the

back ones have sharp cusps or points, well fitted for crushing insects. For these are Insectivora or insect-eaters; and while the rodents are gnawing at roots and leaves and nuts, these devourers of small fry mingle with them very amicably; while both groups only ask that the night-owl may not see them in their evening wanderings, nor the weasel and his bloodthirsty tribe attack them in their homes.

For, ever since they began the race of life, long long ago, these two very different orders of animals have been trying to feed without risk, and to keep out of the way of flesh-eating birds and larger creatures. And so it has come to pass that, though the rodents are mostly plant-eaters, while their associates are insect-eaters, yet, as both are trying to conceal themselves, and get their food by stealth, they have acquired curiously similar external forms, weapons, and habits of life, with the one exception of their teeth and the manner of eating their food.

Even in our English meadows a casual observer might easily mistake the little insect-eating shrew, with its soft velvety coat and bare paws (Fig. 56), for a near relation of the gnawing Harvest-mouse nibbling the grass tips just above its head (Fig. 57); though a nearer inspection of the shrew’s long snout, small ears, and sharp teeth, would show the difference. And as to their way of life, the Field-shrew and the larger Field-mouse live like two brothers of the same race. They both make burrows in the banks, though the field-mouse digs the deeper hole, and they both line their home with dry grass to bring up their little ones. And when the winter comes they both retreat into their homes; the shrew to sleep away the dark days, and the mouse to wake from time to time to feed upon his store. Only their food is quite different, and when they come out in the twilight of the summer’s evening, the mouse is on the look out for acorns, nuts, grains, and roots, which it gnaws off with its sharp chisels, while the shrew is chasing worms and insects, or cracking tiny snails with its pointed teeth.

Then if you lie and watch quietly by the bank of a river, there you may see the Water-rat or Vole (not the land-rat which sometimes hunts for prey in the water) diving under with a splash to gnaw the roots of the duckweed or the stems of the green flags, and coming up to sit on the bank, and hold them in his paws as he eats them; while not far off a pretty little Water-shrew, this time too small and different to be mistaken for his companion, is swimming along with his hind feet, the air bubbles covering his velvety back with silvery lustre as he chases water-shrimps, or feeds on fish-spawn or young frogs. Both these animals live in streams and rivers, and bring up their young in holes in the bank, where they can jump into the water if the weasel attacks them, or the common snake pokes his head too near their home.

These are perhaps the chief examples we shall find in England of insect-eaters and gnawers living near together and following the same kind of life; but if we look over the world it is most curious how many parallels we can draw between them, showing how the same dangers have led to the same defences.

Fig. 56.

A group of Insect-eaters.

Common Shrew, Hedgehog, Mole, Bat.

Look among the insect-eaters at our Hedgehog (Fig. 56), so weak and shuffling in his movements that he would have been cleared out of the world long ago but for the sharp elastic spines which grow upon his back in the place of hair. There he goes trotting along under the hedges in the twilight, cracking the horny skins of beetles, or sucking eggs, or devouring worms, slugs and mice when he can get them, without a thought of fear. For he can roll himself up in an instant if danger be near, and his sharp spines will keep off even dogs and foxes, unless they can catch him unawares,

and bite him underneath in his soft throat. Nay, he can actually master a poisonous snake, and use it for food, not suffering even from the adder’s fangs when they pierce his tender nose.

Fig. 57.

A group of Rodents.

Harvest-mouse, Porcupine, Mole-rat.

It is curious to see how quickly he can roll himself up by drawing together the strong band of muscle which passes along the sides of his body from head to tail, sending out bands of muscle to feet, head, and legs. When he contracts this band his limbs are all drawn in, and the spiny back forms a kind of prickly bag all round them, even his

tender snout being safely hidden. Nor are his spines merely sharp—they are as elastic as the hair of which they are modifications; and the hedgehog can drop safely from a height when he is in his ball-shape, falling on the spines, which bend and straighten again as though made of whalebone. So he lives under hedges and in ditches till the winter comes, when he settles down in a nest of moss and leaves in a hedgebank or a hollow tree, and sleeps the cold weather away. And when the spring comes he takes a wife, who brings up her little ones in the nest of moss and leaves under the hedgerow, watching over them as long as their spines are soft.

And now where shall we look among the rodents for a creature to match the hedgehog among insect-eaters? Surely to the “fretful Porcupines,” which feed on all kinds of vegetable food in Southern Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, protecting themselves by the formidable array of spines which they can raise at will. Even the European porcupine, which is about two feet long and the weakest of his tribe, is better protected than is generally believed. It is true that his long black and white ringed spines only cover the hinder part of his body, but the hair of his head and neck hides a number of short spines which can give very sharp pricks; and though he is a timid night-loving animal, hiding by day in burrows and holes of the rocks, yet when attacked he jerks himself up against his enemy, so that the long spines wound very severely. And when we come to the Tree-porcupines, which hang by their tails from the palm trees in Mexico and Brazil, we find that their short stout spines are a very efficient defence both against birds of prey and the deadly coils of the boa constrictor and other large snakes; while the Western porcupine and the almost tailless Canada porcupine, which climb trees and strip off their bark and buds, have a clothing of such dangerous weapons that pumas and wolves have been known to die of inflammation from the wounds.

The porcupine among the rodents, then, like the hedgehog among insect-eaters, has adopted prickles as a defence. But there are many soft-haired creatures living upon the ground in both families which have no protection but concealment, and we find them both gaining it by burrowing into the ground. Among the insect-eaters the Mole is the most successful digger, and as he works his tortuous way through the ground in search of worms and grubs, it is scarcely possible to imagine a miner more usefully equipped for his work. His skeleton, it is true, is, on the whole, more primitive and roughly finished than that of higher animals, his ear is almost closed, and his eye though bright is deeply hidden; but the parts specially necessary to him are most wonderfully fitted for the work they have to do.

His broad shovel-like front paws (see Fig. 56), with their five strong claws, set each in a long groove at the tip of the last finger-joint, are powerful tools for shovelling away the earth, as he turns them outwards and pushes with them as if he were swimming; and they are carried on strong, short, and broad front legs, fixed to collar-bones and a shoulder blade of unusual strength, while the breastbone is so formed as to throw the legs forward and bring them on a level with his nose when he is burrowing. This nose, too, has its part to play, for it is long and slender, with a small bone at the tip, which helps him in pushing his way forwards while his hind feet are planted flat and firm on the ground behind, while it also serves to pick out the grubs, worms, and beetles from their narrow holes.

Here, then, we have the very best of miners, who has secured food and safety far from the busy world above, and spends his time hunting for grubs and earth-worms in the dark earth below. He is a most voracious animal, and makes the ground above him heave and swell as he toils through it eager for prey, pushing up every now and then with his nose the loose earth he has excavated, thus marking the line of his route by molehills.

But when he builds his home and fortress where he takes his long winter’s sleep, and hides from weasels and pole-cats, he takes care to throw no loose rubbish above; on the contrary, he presses the earth together so as to make the walls of his chamber firm and hard, and carries out from it a number of passages, by any of which he can reach his home in safety when he is pursued too closely.

Thus by his cleverness in burrowing, and the useful tools which he carries upon his body, the mole has managed to find safe feeding-ground and shelter, when no doubt many of his relations living above ground have been killed off. Even underground he has his enemies, for the Weasel, the Stoat, and the Badger find him good eating, while if he meets one of his own brothers in a narrow passage they will fight till one is killed and eaten; yet though fierce he is also tender-hearted, for mole-catchers say that when a mother-mole is caught in a trap the father may sometimes be found dead by her side.

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