THE BADGER 



inhabitants of which they feed. It is a spot 

 practically unknown to the outward gaze of 

 man, as it is difficult of access ; and I should 

 fancy that any one attempting to attack their 

 stronghold would meet with a stubborn 

 resistance. Badgers mostly go seeking for 

 food during the night-time. Where they 

 abound, one occasionally meets them walk- 

 ing quietly along a path, with their snout 

 low down, and occasionally giving a kind 

 of grunt like a mongoose. They are very 

 fond of honey. A bag pegged back over 

 the entrance to their holes is a good way of 

 catching them." 



They do not hunt for rabbits or game like 

 a fox or cat, and though there are undoubt- 

 edly instances of their taking partridge and 

 pheasant eggs, in my experience I have 

 never known it done by those around me, nor 

 from other places where they have ample 

 opportunity of doing so. I have known a 

 pheasant rear a young brood on an earth 

 tenanted by badgers ; but, curiously enough, 

 I have known a similar case on a fox's earth, 

 containing a vixen and cubs, and I cannot 

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