MAMMALS 



In a highly-cultivated district such as the county of Norfolk there 

 is, as might be expected, a marked absence of the larger mammals other 

 than those preserved as objects of sport in some form ; nevertheless there 

 remain considerable tracts of wild ground which from the nature of the 

 soil or other causes are likely to continue to afford shelter to some 

 species not directly protected. The most noteworthy of these is perhaps 

 the otter, which holds its own in the trackless reed-beds and sedge-covered 

 marshes of the broads, and in the rough herbage which clothes the mar- 

 gins of the sluggish rivers. The quiet maintained in the numerous strictly- 

 preserved game coverts is favourable to the habits of others, especially to 

 the smaller carnivora and rodents, in spite of the efforts of an army of 

 gamekeepers for their destruction. The wild cat has here long since dis- 

 appeared, but the marten and badger are still met with, the former at long 

 and uncertain intervals, the latter more frequently, but the native race of 

 each has been exterminated, and both should be regarded either as acci- 

 dental wanderers or escapes, and the once abundant polecat has become 

 very rare. The indigenous race of foxes has doubtless long been extinct, 

 and it is likely that those now at large in this county are the offspring of 

 strangers introduced to keep up the supply of these animals in a hunting 

 country. The old English black rat {Mus rattus) has till quite recently 

 been regarded as all but, if not quite, extinct as a native, and the dis- 

 covery of a considerable colony of this species in the town of Great 

 Yarmouth by Mr. Patterson, although very interesting, must, I think, 

 be taken to indicate rather a re-introduction than a survival of the 

 race. In the list which follows the marine mammals are largely repre- 

 sented. This might be expected from the varied and extensive sea-board 

 which forms so large a section of the boundary of the county, more 

 especially of that portion facing west and bordering the great estuary of 

 the Wash lying between the counties of Lincolnshire and Norfolk and 

 extending to the outfall of the river Ouse at King's Lynn. Here exist 

 many miles of littoral swarming with Crustacea of various kinds and vast 

 quantities of marine molluscs, admirably adapted to the requirements of 

 some species of the Phocidas, whilst the great extent of tidal waters, for 

 the most part shallow, consisting of a network of sand-banks intersected 

 by deep channels, form a veritable trap for the entanglement of stray 

 Cetaceans wandering from the deep waters. It is possible that a closer 

 examination of the individuals of both these families, which from time 

 to time are met with but seldom come under the observation of a 

 competent authority, might still add to the number of recognized species 



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