^912. Penti^and. — Mammals^ Bi?'ds and bisects of Co. Louth, 145 



NOTES. ON THE INCREASE AND DECREASE 



OF SOME MAMMALS, BIRDS AND INSECTS 



IN THE COUNTY OF LOUTH 



DURING THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 



BY G. H, PENTLAND 



Louth is a county of small tillage holdings with a good 

 many small demesnes. There is very little preservation of 

 game and the county is densely populated and full of guns, 

 dogs and cats. My notes are chiefly taken in and about 

 my own place which has about 100 acres of woodland and a 

 small lake of about 3 acres, and is about 3 miles west of 

 Clogher Head. 



Mammals . 



Carlingford Lough and Cooley Point have always 

 been the haunt of many Seals both the Grey and 

 Com.mon kinds, but these animals used to be very local in 

 their habits, and very seldom frequented any other part 

 of the coast. However within the last few years 20 or 30 

 of them have taken to a patch of rocks about a mile N. of 

 Clogher Head, and I am pretty certain they are increasing 

 in numbers all along the coast. Can an^^one say where these 

 Seals breed ? I believe the Common Seal breeds in early 

 summer and the Grey Seal in autumn and at those times of 

 the year they are very abundant in the places I have men- 

 tioned, but from the nature of the coast and the swarms of 

 fishing boats in these waters, I do not believe they can 

 possibly breed there. 



Formerly Badgers were very uncommon in Louth. Mr. 

 Filgate, who has been master of the Louth Hounds for over 

 50 years, tells me that for many years he hardly ever came 

 across one, except at Crewbawn, a steep dense cover on 

 the banks of the Boyne near Dowth. Now he says they 

 are in almost every cover in the county, and my own 

 experience is the same. About 15 years ago a couple of 

 them appeared at Clogher Head among the rocks on the 

 shore, a safe retreat but a most unlikely place ; then they 



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