12 ~: WOOPljANP CREATURES 



the o; and -so: on, /live and thrive because we 

 let them "do* sb; 'they provide sport, and we there- 

 fore protect them. The really wild animals are 

 those which are never protected, yet continue 

 to exist. The lesser creatures manage to hold 

 their own because they are small, escape notice, 

 and can get away easily, but with the bigger 

 species, especially the carnivorous ones, it has 

 gone very hard. The last few hundred years 

 has seen the wolf, the wild boar, and the beaver 

 exterminated. The pine marten has all but 

 followed them, being now found only in a few 

 remote districts, such as the Fells of the Lake 

 Country ; the wild cat seeks a refuge in the 

 Highlands of Scotland ; and the polecat's last 

 stronghold is in the Welsh mountains ; yet the 

 badger, with every man's hand against it, still 

 exists in some numbers throughout England, 

 Ireland, the Lowlands of Scotland, and Wales. 

 No shadow of mercy, let alone protection, has 

 ever been extended to it. From those long gone- 

 by days when wolves and beavers made their 

 homes on our hills and in our valleys, up to the 

 present time, it has struggled grimly and gamely, 

 against great odds, for mere existence, seeing its 

 neighbours gradually exterminated, and, though 

 an awkward, ungainly beast, apparently doomed 

 to follow them, has by reason of its great strength 

 and digging powers been able to survive, though 

 with lessened numbers. 



In former times the badger must have been 

 exceedingly plentiful, for the word " brock," the 



