MAMMALS 



17. Badger. Meles melesy Linn. 



Bell — Meles taxus. 

 Badgers are met with in Norfolk from 

 time to time, but I doubt whether they can 

 now be regarded as truly indigenous to the 

 county. The most recent occurrences are 

 one shot by a keeper in Holkham Park in 

 January, 1893, and a second in November of 

 the same year at Whitlingham near Nor- 

 wich. A badger, which was suckling two 

 young ones, was trapped at West Wretham 

 in April, 1895, and in July, 1899, an old 

 female and three young ones were killed at 

 Forncett (vide Field, 22nd and 29th July, 

 1899). Even allowing for the nocturnal 

 habits of this animal, I doubt whether as 

 permanent inhabitants they would long escape 

 notice. 



18. Otter. Lutra lutra, Linn. 



Bell — Lutra vulgaris. 

 The otter still holds its own in its great 

 stronghold, the broads, and is occasionally 

 found in all the streams of the county. With 

 us it is decidedly a winter breeder, and the 

 usual number of young is two or three ; only 

 once out of many instances could I satis- 

 factorily ascertain the number to have been 

 four. Thirty-seven pounds is the greatest 

 weight I have known a male otter to attain ; 

 the female does not reach so great a weight 

 as the male. For an account of the habits 

 of this animal as observed in Norfolk, see the 

 Trans. Norf. and Nor. Nat. Soc, vol. i. 

 [1872-73] p. 79; also Zoologist, 1877, p. 

 172, and 1888, p. 248. 



19. Common Seal. Phoca vituitna, Linn. 

 The common seal is found in some num- 

 bers frequenting the sandbanks in the great 

 estuary of the Wash, between Norfolk and 

 Lincolnshire, where it breeds, and is fre- 

 quently captured by the fishermen. It also 



occurs on other parts of the coast, and occa- 

 sionally far up the fresh-water rivers. In 

 two instances it has been captured in the 

 river Ouse, about forty miles in a direct line 

 from the sea. 



20. Ringed Seal or Floe-rat. Phoca hispida, 



Schreber. 

 The claim of this species to be admitted to 

 the British Fauna rests upon a specimen killed 

 on the Norfolk coast in 1846, the skull of 

 which is in the Norwich Museum. The 

 late Mr. J. H. Gurney, who purchased the 

 seal in the flesh and presented the skull to the 

 Museum, called the writer's attention to this 

 skull in 1 87 1, and upon submitting it to the 

 late Sir W. H. Flower he confirmed its iden- 

 tification as belonging to this species {Proc. 

 Zoo. Soc, 1 87 1, p. 506). 



21. Grey Seal. Halicharus grypus, Fabricius. 

 The grey seal is also an inhabitant of the 



Wash, whence both old and young have been 

 obtained. The first occurrence with which 

 I am acquainted was in December, 1881, 

 when an old female and a young one in first 

 coat were killed and brought to Lynn (cf. 

 Trans. Norf. and Nor. Nat. Soc, iii. 415). A 

 young female, now in the Norwich Museum, 

 was killed on Breydon Broad, in November, 

 1882, and a very old female was captured at 

 Wells in February, 1892. I have heard of 

 others which I suspected to be of this species 

 but had no opportunity of verifying. 



22. Bearded Seal. Phoca barbata. 



A young male of this species was captured 

 alive at Burnham Overy, and after being 

 exhibited about the country for some months 

 died at Lynn in February, 1892. The skull 

 is preserved in the University Museum of 

 Zoology at Cambridge. Full particulars of 

 the event will be found in the Trans. Norf. 

 and Nor. Nat. Soc, v. 555. 



RODENTIA 



23. Squirrel. Sciurus leucourus, Kerr. 



Bell — Sciurus vulgaris. 

 Common in suitable localities. 



24. Dormouse. Muscardinus avellanarius, 



Linn. 

 Although this interesting little animal is 

 said to have been found in Norfolk by Paget 

 (1834), and in 1838, by a writer in the 

 Edinburgh Journal of Nat. Hist. (vol. i. 

 1835-39), like Mr. Lubbock in 1845, I was 



long unable to verify its occurrence in the 

 present day ; a correspondence in the Field, 

 however, revealed the fact that it is still met 

 with in the south-east corner of the county, 

 but even there it is not quite certain its pre- 

 sence is not due to the introduction of some 

 six or seven specimens procured from Surrey 

 fifty years ago. 



25. Brown Rat. Mus decumanus, Pallas. 

 Common. 



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