;svaav;idh-

[Dominik Wujastyk]

On Thu, 13 Apr 2000, Arlo Griffiths wrote:

> If I may ask my own animal question: should ;svaav;idh- be rendered as
> 'porcupine' or is 'hedgehog' also possible?

Looking at S. H. Prater, The book of Indian animals (Bombay: Bombay
Nat. Hist. Soc. & OUP, 1971), gives the following:

There are both kinds of animal in India

There is a "Longeared" Hedgehog, Hemiechinus auritus (Gmelin), and "Pale"
Hedgehog, Paraechinus micropus (Blyth).  Both have races in India.  Their
claws are not especially adapted for digging.  Distribution: mainly
confined to the dry desert zone of Cutch, Sind, the Punjab, and the former
NWFP and neighbouring tracts.  A single form, P. m. nudiventris, is
confined to the plains of S. India.  Basically, hhs inhabit dry plains and
deserts.  It is tempting to link the AV's "The eared hh said this,..."
with the "Longeared" hh.

As for porcupines, there is a Hystrix indica Kerr, which has a number of
local names in N and S Indian languages. Hindi sayal, sahi.  Linked to
"svaavidh?  It is noticeable that Prater does not give Indian names for
hedgehogs.  There is also Hodgson's porcupine (H. hodgsoni (Gray)) (only
in the central and eastern Himalayas, Assam, and lower Bengal at
elevations up to about 1500m), and the Brushtailed porc. (Atherurus
macrourus (Linn.) (rare).

Porcs are distributed from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin and Ceylon,
Westwards through Persia and Baluchistan to Syria, Asia Minor, and
Palestine.  Favours rocky hillsides, and very adaptable to climate and
conditions.  Shelter in long grass and burrows.  The entrance to their
burrows are strewn with kndawed bones.  They also knaw dropped horns of
deer, for calcium and lime > their quills.  Keen sense of smell;
intelligent in avoiding traps.  Very destructive in gardens and fields,
tunneling under walls and hedges.  There are records of tigers and
panthers being killed by the porc's sudden backward attack.  Fearless
animals.

It's worth looking at Prater, since there are pictures of both hedgehogs
and porcupine.

--
Dominik Wujastyk
Founder, INDOLOGY list.