THE BADGER 



business, at a time of night when all respect- 

 able people were quietly in bed. And yet all 

 through the year foxes are in the earth, and 

 this spring, as heretofore, a litter of cubs 

 has been raised, but removed to another 

 earth at a safe distance from the badgers. I 

 have never heard of badgers taking the offen - 

 sive against foxes ; they will never molest a 

 fox or vixen unless their earth is invaded, and 

 in my case if I had had no badgers in this 

 covert I should have had no foxes ; and whilst 

 it is annoying that the fox cubs and vixen 

 should be driven out, and perhaps occasionally 

 killed, the drawback is slight when it is 

 considered that as long as there are bad- 

 gers there will be a litter of cubs, which nine 

 times out of ten will get safely off. 



There are every now and then albino bad- 

 gers reported, but I have never seen one 

 alive. I think, however, they are more 

 subject to albinism than most animals. I 

 clo not know of a case of melanism. 



" White Badger at Overton, Hants. 

 While digging for badgers on April 30, we 

 came across two dog badgers in the same 

 75 



