THE BADGER 



which appeared in a newspaper, there is a 

 good account of night hunting. 



" Owing to his shy and retiring habits, 

 rather than to the scarcity of the animal, 

 probably less is known about the badger than 

 about any wild animal left in England at the 

 present time. There is a prevalent notion 

 that the badger is exceedingly rare, and also 

 that he is harmless ; neither of these ideas is 

 quite correct. In the west especially the 

 badger is fairly common, but escapes notice 

 owing to his retiring disposition. Whether 

 he does harm to feathered game or not is a 

 moot point, but his tracks have been distinctly 

 noticed round plundered nests ; it is certain, 

 however, that he does great damage to 

 ground game by digging out ' stops ' of 

 young rabbits in the spring and summer. 



"When hunted after the fashion generally 

 adopted in the west, he affords excellent 

 sport to those who are prepared to face a 

 long tramp and the loss of some of their 

 night's rest. The prosaic way of digging 

 them out of the earth involves much labour, 

 and has in it no element of sport ; while 

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