HT^HE badger is of such a shy and 

 self-effacing disposition that he seems 

 likely to retire altogether from amongst us, 

 unless the sportsman's interest in him can 

 be revived. The badger's love of seclusion 

 and natural instinct to avoid observation 

 will become more and more difficult for him 

 to gratify, unless his kind receive* special 

 protection in most parts of England. The 

 humane Act that rendered the brutal pastime 

 of badger-baiting illegal no doubt has en- 

 couraged his destruction and extinction in 



235 



