NATURE AND SPORT IN BRITAIN 



the nests of wild bees. Having discovered these, 

 they proceed to rifle the combs. They are absolutely 

 oblivious — as are our English badgers — of the stings 

 of the infuriated bees, their tough, thick, and loose 

 coats protecting them from any serious injury. No 

 doubt, too, after thousands of years of honey-plunder- 

 ing, they are practically immune to the attacks of their 

 victims. Ratels are strong and very courageous beasts. 

 The Boers of South Africa hold them in high respect — 

 as do the natives — and assert that a pair of these beasts 

 will occasionally attack a human being. I have heard 

 of men being treed by these animals, but whether the 

 tale was true or false I am uncertain. What is certain 

 is that the ratel, or honey badger, of South Africa is 

 a beast extremely difficult to kill, by reason of his 

 tough constitution, good defensive powers, and extra- 

 ordinarily loose coat, and that he is, when meddled 

 with or put out, a beast of very high courage and 

 unpleasant manners. 



Our English badger, known of old by such various 

 names as Brock, Gray, Boreson, and Bauson, measures, 

 in a good specimen, as much as two feet six inches in 

 length. He will weigh certainly up to thirty-five 

 pounds, possibly more, in exceptional instances. Pen- 

 nant, the well-known naturalist of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury, had a tame badger (a male) which weighed 

 thirty-four pounds. In November, 1902, Mr. Arthur 

 Heinemann, master of the Cheriton Otter Hounds, 

 unearthed a pair of badgers near Exford, in North 

 Devon, which weighed respectively thirty-three pounds 

 (the boar) and thirty-four pounds (the sow.) There 

 is absolutely no good reason for supposing that even 

 these weights are not sometimes exceeded. 



As a rule the badger makes its home in a snug and 

 deep earth, often having several chambers. In this 



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