Abstract
IN the article on the hedgehog which appeared in NATURE of May 19, p. 375, mention is made of the widespread belief that hedgehogs suck the teats of cows. Although farmers have assured me that they have found evidence of milk on the hedgehog, I do not think that any credence can be given to the statement. The belief probably arises from the extrusion of the contents of the vesiculæ seminales of the buck hedgehog when crushed, kicked, or otherwise injured. The vesiculæ seminales are, when full, extraordinarily large in proportion to the size of the animal, and the milky fluid can easily be mistaken for cow's milk, especially when the hedgehog has rolled itself up for defensive purposes and the face has become smeared with the seminal fluid.
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AUDEN, G. Habits of the Hedgehog. Nature 107, 491 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/107491c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/107491c0
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