THE BADGER 17 



with its great strong claws it can burrow in it 

 as quickly as a man can dig. As some indication 

 of what the badgers have done in this particular 

 bank, I must say that one day a hunted fox took 

 refuge in the sett. As there was little sign of 

 the great size of the place, a terrier was allowed 

 to go in. It was heard barking a long way under- 

 ground. Willing diggers started to open the 

 hole, and dug for the rest of the afternoon. Late 

 in the evening the terrier was recovered badly 

 bitten, but there was no sign of the fox. To 

 cut a long story short, digging was continued for 

 three days, a large piece of ground was cut away, 

 tunnels upon tunnels were exposed running in 

 all directions through the sand, the terrier could 

 be heard first in one place and then in another, 

 and there seemed no end to it all. The third 

 night the attempt was given up ; neither fox nor 

 badgers were ever dug out, so that the only result 

 was much waste of time and labour. This 

 happened some years ago, and now one can hardly 

 trace where the attempt was made. The soil 

 has fallen into the trenches, the kindly ferns 

 and mosses have healed the scar, and all looks 

 as it did before. The two well-used entrances 

 testify that the owners are still living in it. 



Having given a description of the badger's 

 home and its surroundings, it may be as well 

 to say something of the creature itself. It is a 

 powerful short-legged animal of heavy build, a 

 male, or " boar" as it should be called, often weigh- 

 ing as much as thirty pounds, the female being 



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