1896-97-] A Badger Colony in Dalmeny Park. 233 



growing near are beech and Scotch fir, with some young birches 

 in a strip of marshy ground opposite. In the summer the 

 undergrowth is an immense bed of brackens, over six feet 

 high, and growing so close and thick as to be not easily pene- 

 trated. This forms an excellent cover for the badgers, and 

 one can trace the various runs through it very distinctly. Some 

 foxgloves growing near give a variety of colouring to the spot. 



The entrances to the burrow itself are partly hidden by some 

 sapling elder-trees. In winter the brackens, though faded and 

 broken down, still serve somewhat to screen the movements 

 of the animals, while their roots furnish a portion of the 

 winter diet. At present there are five entrances to the original 

 burrow, or rather where there was only one opening at first 

 there are now five within a radius of as many yards. This is 

 rather in contradiction to most text-books, which are unani- 

 mous in describing the domicile as having but a single entrance 

 to several tortuous passages or chambers. Tons upon tons of 

 sand have been thrown out during the last seven years, and 

 each season sees the mound increasing. A common proverb 

 is responsible for the idea that the badger is an offensive 

 animal, but when at liberty it seems to be a model of cleanli- 

 ness. Every season, about the month of March, the winter 

 bedding is thrown out and a supply of clean dry brackens 

 taken in to form the nest. But the badger is not content with 

 a spring-cleaning alone, for at the beginning of winter the nest 

 is again cleared out, and fresh bedding for the winter taken in. 



So far as I can learn, the badger seems to be compara- 

 tively harmless to game — at least the gamekeeper, in the 

 absence of positive evidence to the contrary, is inclined to 

 give it the benefit of the doubt. I have seen torn rabbit- 

 skins on several occasions lying at the mouth of the hole, but 

 the killing of a rabbit or two is not regarded as a serious 

 crime. One of the most interesting facts in connection with 

 the food-supply of these animals is the manner in which they 

 dispose of all the wasps' nests which they find in the ground. 

 In the summer, at the edge of the carriage-drives and along 

 the grassy avenues, every now and then you can see evidence 

 of their work. A circular hole neatly scooped out to the 

 depth of about a foot is all that remains of the wasp's bink. 

 The comb has furnished the badgers with a dainty meal. 



