The following is my translation of an article called: Kosmos Handweiser für Naturkunde 1910, Heft 7, Seite 264. It appeared in a German popular science magazine, Kosmos Handweiser für Naturfreunde 1910, Heft 7, Seite 264. I'm not aware of any previous translation.
Trevor Dykes.

A Gypsy on the hedgehog as a mouse catcher by Fr. R.
Kosmos articles, such as Dr Floericke's Säugetiere des deutschen Waldes ('Mammals of the German forest'), have helped us come into contact with a member of this roaming people, who is known to us as being an intelligent observer of nature. The man is named E Wittich and presently lives in Pforzheim, and he is capable enough with a pen to have written a contribution on the habits and customs of his people for an ethnographic journal. In a message of thanks directed to one of us, our informant seriously maintains that the hedgehog, when living under natural conditions, is a committed hunter of mice*. As is known, this spiky animal is enjoyed as a delicacy by Gypsies, and our reporter has not only prepared a large number himself but has also, at our request, discussed this point with other members of his tribe. They are all in agreement that wild hedgehogs only hunt mice in times of great hunger, but otherwise never. The Gypsies even have a saying: "In an emergency, the hedgehog eats mice!" As the hedgehog generally scares mice away with the distinctive smell it causes in dry leaf litter the spiked hero, which is counted to the order of the Kersjager or insectivores, is certainly quick enough for hunting mice, but it is incorrectly assumed to be clumsy. Of the hundreds of hedgehogs our Gypsy has personally prepared, none ever had the trace of a mouse in its stomach or intestines; and this also applies for his father and other tribe members. He writes: "We have also raised and tamed young hedgehogs and feed them with milk, fruit and meat. As soon as they were thrown beetles, they have always left everything else lying, and have never touched dead mice." The stomach and intestines contain the remains of beetles, fruit, adders, slow worms and often feathers and fluff from birds -never such from mice. Naturally, the fact is still inefficiently appreciated that the hedgehog belongs to our useful and desirable animals, and this should also not be challenged because the insatiable Kerjager -as Dr Floericke also stressed- now and then annihilates bird nests or includes a few chicks on its menu. It should also be mentioned that the Gypsies estimate the age of the hedgehog in accordance with the increasingly lighter colour of its spikes: "the whiter, so the older", as they say. Our correspondent differentiates between dog and pig hedgehogs; the latter subspecies are supposedly of a lighter colour, have pointier snouts and are considerably larger, or as Wittich expresses it: "Those that live in the forest are mostly hairier, larger and wilder than those from the village"; perhaps these apparent contrasts are simply based on coincidence.

* I have also observed a hedgehog hunting mice, and so have many other zoologists. However, it was not chasing after them, but rather waiting with great patience in front of their holes. Perhaps the behaviour of hedgehogs varies regionally in this regard, as can often be the cause for animals, Floericke.

An index of more of my translations of old Kosmos articles can be found at:

Kosmos Translations Archive

A number of Mesozoic (and post-Mesozoic) location summaries can be found at Localities.