Wild Life in New Zealand. Part I. Mammalia. / New Zealand Board of Science and Art. Manual No. 2.

by G. M. Thomson

[J. Macdonald, photo.

Fig. 14.—The Hedgehog.

The first hedgehogs brought into New Zealand were received in 1870 by the Canterbury Acclimatization Society, which got a pair, but I do not know what came of them.

In 1885 a shipment of one hundred was made to the Otago Society, but only three survived the voyage. These were liberated in a suburban garden, but were very sluggish, though the weather was warm; this was probably due to their having lost their usual season of hibernation. Others were probably imported later, for in 1890 hedgehogs were found near Port Chalmers.

In 1894 the late Mr. Peter Cunningham, of Merivale, Christchurch, sent a consignment of wekas Home, and got twelve hedgehogs out in exchange. They were placed in a pigeon-house, but got out under the wire netting and escaped. For years nothing was heard of them, but they gradually increased and are now extraordinarily abundant. Mr. Edgar F. Stead, of Riccarton, writing in March, 1916, says, “If I hunted through my garden with my dog I could get a dozen now, and I frequently kill them. They are extraordinarily destructive to chickens, their depredations being readily identified by the fact that they eat their victim’s stomach first, whereas a cat eats the breast first, and rats and weasels go for the head and neck. Once a hedgehog starts eating chickens he will go on until caught or the supply runs out. I know of many cases where a trap set and baited with the remains of a chicken has caught the marauding hedgehog.”

These animals are now very abundant between Christchurch and Dunedin. Two pairs were introduced into the gardens at New Plymouth in 1913, and they are now increasing rapidly in Taranaki.

Old superstitions and beliefs are difficult to eradicate. Among my correspondents, one who hails (over forty years ago) from Surrey, England, is a firm believer in the myth that hedgehogs visit the cows during the night and suck their milk; and he warns me that the milking-qualities of cows are frequently destroyed by them. I can find no satisfactory evidence of this.

---

INDEX.

• Anderton, T.: Note on polecats, [67].
• Antipodes Island, goats on, [45];
• seals, [78];
• mice, [92].
• Aston, B. C., on—wild cattle, [39], [40];
• sheep, [41];
• goats, [44];
• cats, [61];
• rabbits, [103].
• Auckland Islands, pigs on, [21];
• cattle, [40];
• goats, [45];
• cats, [61];
• dogs, [65];
• seals, [78];
• mice, [92].
• Axis deer, [25].
• Banks, Sir Joseph, on—seals, [76];
• native rats, [83].
• Beddard, Professor, on sperm whale, [50].
• Bees, introduced, in New Zealand, [8].
• Begg, James, on rabbits, [97].
• Bellingshausen, Commander: Wild cats on Macquaries, [61];
• wild dogs, [63], [65].
• Birds, introduced, in New Zealand, [6].
• Black-tailed deer, [25].
• Bollons, Captain: Goats on the Southern Islands, [45];
• rats on Campbell Island, [91].
• Boscawen, Colonel, on opossums, [17].
• Broad, Judge: Bats in Nelson, [85].
• Brunner, Mr., on Maori dogs, [64].
• Bullen, Frank, on—sperm whales, [49];
• porpoises, [52];
• killer whales, [55].
• Bullen, W. R., on wild goats, [44].
• Buller, Sir Walter, on—bats, [80];
• native rats, [86].
• Cachalot, [49].
• Caldwell, Mr., on New Zealand bats, [80].
• Campbell Island, sheep on, [43];
• goats, [45];
• seals, [78];
• rats, [91];
• mice, [92].
• Carnivora, definition of, [11].
• Cetacea, definition of, [11].
• Chamois, [46].
• Chatham Islands, pigs on, [21];
• cattle, [40];
• sheep, [42];
• cats, [61];
• rats, [91].
• Cheeseman, T., on New Zealand bats, [81].
• Chital (or axis deer), [25].
• Cockayne, Dr. L., on—wild cattle, [40];
• sheep, [42], [43];
• goats, [45].
• Cook, Captain James: First visit to New Zealand, [8];
• introduction of—pigs, [18];
• sheep, [40];
• goats, [43];
• native dogs, [62].
• Cotton, Dr. C. A.: Erosion of land, [103].
• Crozet, Captain, on native dogs, [62].
• Darwin, Charles: Reversion among wild cats, [59];
• extinction of the native rat, [89].
• De Surville, Captain: Introduction of pigs, [19].
• Dieffenbach, Dr., on—pigs, [19];
• change in wild cats, [59];
• rats, [92].
• Don, Rev. A.: Action of rabbits on the country, [104].
• Enderby, Captain: Cattle on Southern Islands, [45].
• European birds in New Zealand, [6].
• Forster, Dr. J. R.: Introduction of—pigs, [19];
• seals, [75];
• native rats, [83].
• Furneaux, Captain: Introduction of—pigs, [19];
• goats, [43].
• Gates, W. H., on—goats, [44];
• colours of rabbits, [104].
• George, Hon. S. Thorne: Fallow deer on Kawau, [28];
• cattle on Kawau, [39].
• Gibbs, F. G.: Goats in Nelson, [43].
• Gillies, Robert, on—wild pigs, [20];
• dogs, [64];
• mice, [92].
• Goats, Himalayan (thar), [46].
• Grampus, [55].
• Grey, Sir George: Introduction of—wallabies, [12];
• wapiti, [24];
• fallow deer, [28];
• rabbits, [98].
• Gunn, A.: Goats in Central Otago, [45].
• Hardcastle, Mr., on red deer, [30], [31].
• Hector, Sir James, on seals, [74], [75].
• Henry, Richard, on ferrets, [72].
• Hochstetter, Dr.: Wild pigs in Nelson, [21].
• Hocken, Dr.: Settlement abandoned on account of rats, [86].
• Hotop, L.: Goats in Wakatipu district, [44].
• Huddlestone, Mr.: Rabbits in Nelson, [98].
• Hunt, F.: Food of opossums, [16].
• Hutton, Captain F. W., on—New Zealand bats, [80];
• rats, [84], [89];
• extermination of Aciphylla by rabbits, [103].
• Insectivora, definition of, [11].
• Japanese deer, [24].
• Kawau, animals introduced on to: Wallaby, [12];
• wapiti, [24];
• fallow deer, [28];
• cattle, [39].
• Killer whale, [55].
• King, Captain: Introduction of pigs, [19].
• Kingsley, R. I.: Rats nesting in trees, [89].
• Knox, Dr.: Native bats, [79], [80].
• Laing, R. M.: Sheep on Campbell Island, [43].
• Lyall, Dr.: Race of wild dogs, [63].
• McNab, Dr. R.: Seal-fishery, [76], [78].
• Marriner, G. R.: Rats in Campbell Island, [89].
• Marsupial, definition of, [11].
• Meeson, Mr.: Rats in Nelson and Marlborough, [88].
• Menzies, Dr.: Introduction of rabbits, [98].
• Monro, Dr.: Wild pigs in Otago, [21].
• Moose, introduction of, [25].
• Mueller, George: Rabbits in Westland, [72].
• Murison, W. D.: Wild dogs in Otago, [64].
• Musgrave, Captain: Animals in the Auckland Islands—cats, [61];
• dogs, [65].
• Norman, Richard: Stoats in west coast, [72].
• “Pelorus Jack,” [53].
• Peters, Charles J.: Cats, [60];
• rabbits, [72].
• Petrie, D.: Grass-denuded land, [102], [104].
• Philpott, A.: Mice in Southland, [92].
• Reed, John: Introduction of wallabies, [12].
• Rodentia, definition of, [11].
• Rorqual, [47], [48].
• Rutland, J.: Plague of rats, [87].
• Scott, Robert: Wild pigs in Central Otago, [20];
• cats, [59].
• Slugs and snails, introduced, [8].
• Smith, S. Percy: Native dogs, [63].
• Speight, R.: Rats in Christchurch, [89].
• Spermaceti, [50].
• Stead, Edgar F.: Hedgehogs in Christchurch, [109].
• Studholme, J.: Introduction of wallabies, [12].
• Tancred, H. J.: Rats in Canterbury, [85].
• Taylor, Rev. R., on—New Zealand dog, [63];
• Maori rat, [84];
• rabbits, [97].
• Technical names, [10].
• Thar (Himalayan goat), [46].
• Thomas, Oldfield, on rats, [84].
• Thomson, G. S.: Cattle in west-coast country, [40].
• Thomson, J. A., on—cats, [58], [61];
• wild ferrets, [67].
• Travers, H. H.: Animals on Chatham Islands—cats, [61];
• rats, [91].
• Travers, W. T. L., on—rats, [85];
• food of hawks, [92].
• Tuatara, [61].
• Tuckett, F.: Pigs in Otago, [21];
• rabbits at Taukupu, [97].
• Ungulata, definition of, [11].
• Wakefield, E. J.: Wild cattle, [39];
• rabbits, [97].
• Wapiti (deer), [24].
• Weir, H. C., on wild cats, [60].
• White, Taylor: Native dog, [64];
• rats, [87];
• mice, [92].
• Wohlers, Pastor: Mice on Ruapuke, [92].
• Worms, introduced, [7], [8].
• Yarborough, A. C.: Animals at Hokianga—cattle, [39];
• stoats and weasels, [73];
• rabbits, [105].