THE BADGER 



and very much bitten about the head and 

 neck. He lost the lot in the same way in 

 a few days. He thought an old badger 

 or fox killed his cubs. About this time I 

 got five cubs, and put them into an empty 

 artificial fox-earth. All went well with 

 them for some time after they played out, 

 when the keeper reported finding one about 

 twenty yards from the earth dead, and 

 killed after the same fashion as my neigh- 

 bour's cubs, and I too lost mine. In the 

 same artificial earth I had a natural litter this 

 season, and the cubs played out well ; but on 

 the keeper telling me he did not think they 

 were there now, I went to examine the earth, 

 found the foxes gone, and the earth occupied 

 by an old badger. I had a litter of fox cubs 

 in the deer park here, where I live, and all 

 went well with them until ten days ago, when 

 one was picked up dead, killed in the same 

 manner as those last year, and another was 

 found dead yesterday. I feel quite certain 

 myself that they were killed by an old badger 

 or an old fox, for I am sure if killed by dogs 



they would not smash the skull and neck. I 

 66 



