MAMMALS 



one was trapped, but managed to escape, al- 

 though it left a foot in the trap. At Meynell 

 Langley none have been observed since 

 1861. 



16. Common Stoat. Putorius ermineus (Linn.). 



Bell Mustela erminea. 



Still pretty generally distributed over the 

 greater part of the county, in spite of unre- 

 mitting persecution from game preservers. It 

 is perhaps rather more common in the wooded 

 parts, and comparatively rarely seen in the 

 bleak uplands. Mr. E. Brown says that in 

 the Burton district they have been known to 

 hunt the hare in concert, following on the 

 track until the animal has been run down. 

 Individuals in the yellowish white pelage of 

 winter are not uncommon in some seasons. 



17. Weasel. Putorius nivalis (Linn.). 



Bell Mustela vulgaris. 



Generally distributed and common in all 

 parts of Derbyshire, where it is of great 

 service in keeping down the numbers of mice 

 and voles. The many walls built of loose 

 stones without mortar furnish secure retreats 

 for this species from which it can only be 

 dislodged with difficulty. Occasionally the 

 weasel will take to the water, and an instance 

 is on record of one swimming across the 

 Trent in pursuit of a rat (Nat. Hist, of Tut- 

 bury, p. 87). 



1 8. Badger. Meles meles (Linn.). 



Bell Meles taxus. 



Formerly a common resident in our wood- 

 lands, and even now a good many pairs exist 

 in different parts of the county. The sur- 

 vival of this interesting species may be attri- 

 buted partly to its nocturnal habits, which 

 often cause its presence to be unsuspected, 

 and partly to a measure of protection which 

 it receives in several places, although by no 

 means generally. 



Sir O. Mosley, writing in 1863, says that 

 the badger still existed, 'although it is every 

 year becoming more scarce,' and Mr. E. 

 Brown writes even more strongly, ' Fast 

 becoming extinct, although 20 years ago 

 it was found in most of the woods about 

 here.' 



At the present time colonies exist close to 

 the town of Derby, and specimens have been 

 killed near the racecourse. The Kedleston 

 district has long been a noted haunt of this 

 species, and there are earths at Alderwasley, 

 Allestree, Hopwell Hall, West Hallam and 

 many other places. A few are found in the 

 north : Mr. Storrs Fox notes a freshly used 



earth on Curbar Edge in 1895 and saw a 

 badger which had been caught by a keeper 

 not far from Bakewell in 1891, and they are 

 occasionally trapped in Lathkill Dale. In 

 the Dove valley they are not common, but 

 stray individuals are sometimes trapped and 

 one or two earths are known. 



The amount of earth which badgers re- 

 move when excavating is extraordinary. I 

 visited one colony last July consisting of 

 several earths at the edge of a small wood. 

 In the adjoining field were three great 

 mounds of excavated soil which were esti- 

 mated to contain eight or nine cartloads. 

 About eighteen months or two years pre- 

 viously all the earth thrown out (amounting 

 to four loads) had been removed and the 

 ground levelled, so that all this mass had 

 accumulated since that time. 



19. Otter. Lutra lutra (Linn.). 

 Bell Lutra vulgaris. 



Probably the otter exists in rather larger 

 numbers in the Dove valley at the present 

 time than for many years past. This is 

 owing to the protection extended to it by 

 one or two riparian owners on the river Dove 

 and a certain amount of toleration or indiffer- 

 ence on the part of others. 



References to the otter occur as far back 

 as 1773 in the shooting diary of the Rev. 

 Frances Gisborne of Staveley. On February i 

 the rector shot a dog otter weighing about 

 I4lb., and three years later he mentions 

 having ' shot at a large otter at 1 1 yds. dis- 

 tant (with No. i) upon the water' (Journ. 

 Derb. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc. 1892, 

 pp. 197, 206). Glover (1829) describes 

 them as frequently found in the Trent, the 

 Derwent and the smaller rivers communi- 

 cating with them. 



By 1863 its numbers had been much 

 diminished in south Derbyshire, but it was 

 still occasionally found in the Dove and 

 Trent, according to Mr. E. Brown. Sir O. 

 Mosley describes how a relative of his, while 

 duck-shooting on the Dove, started two otters, 

 which plunged into the water from the trees 

 where they were lying. Both were shot : 

 one was successfully brought to land, but the 

 other was carried down stream and lost. 



It is however on the Dove that otters 

 have increased in numbers so much of late. 

 One was killed in 1898 by a keeper on the 

 Norbury water, but none have been touched 

 there since. Now they are so numerous that 

 as many as eight have been seen by the 

 keeper in one day. In December 1898 two 

 young otters were captured by a labourer 



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