36 THE BADGER 



where they speedily excavated commodious earths. About 

 midsummer, the keepers were dismayed by wholesale 

 massacre committed by night upon the young pheasants 

 in coops, and not upon them alone, but upon the nursing 

 hens. The mischief was soon traced to the badgers ; but, 

 watch as they might, the keepers could never detect them 

 in the act. Isolated coops, with a solitary hen in each, 

 were put out encircled by traps. Master Brock was equal 

 to that device. Somehow or another he got at the coop 

 uninjured, threw the coop over upon the traps, and 

 devoured the inmate. After that, I had no word to say 

 in defence of my quondam friends. They were dug out 

 of their earths and paid the penalty of evil-doers. 



In one respect, however, the badger has been grossly 

 maligned, having been made proverbial for his smell, and 

 people who have never seen a live badger talk glibly of 

 ' stinking like a badger.' It is true that the animal has a 

 peculiar sac under the tail, whence is secreted a substance 

 of strong and disagreeable odour ; but it is a gross libel 

 to attribute to the uncleanly habits of the badger that 

 overpowering stench which too often exhales from the 

 prison of one in captivity. A human being confined 

 under similar conditions would be infinitely more offen- 

 sive. In fact, the ' bawson ' is a creature of scrupulously 

 cleanly habits, being at pains to dig holes at some distance 

 from the earths and bury that which most animals are 

 content to leave on the surface. Most sincerely did I 

 commiserate the filthy plight of a fine badger which I 

 saw not long ago confined in the back yard of a country 

 hotel. The beast would have kept its narrow den sweet 

 and neat if it could, for badger earths are far superior in 

 both these respects to fox earths ; but it had been deprived 



