BADGEI?. 163 



animal, and the increase of population in this country. 

 But it is probable that the oolitic district to which we 

 have alluded, with a very undulating surface, and thickly 

 spotted with parks, woods, and coppices, containing 

 broken ground and deserted quarries, and, moreover, in 

 many places of a very friable nature, in wiiich not only 

 Badgers but Foxes and Rabbits can speedily establish 

 extensive burrows, is of all others the kind of habitat 

 suitable for the Badger. At any rate, we find that there 

 are many wilder and less frequented districts in which 

 the Badger is comparatively rare. The burrow is usually 

 a round horizontal hole or tunnel, the end of wdiich is 

 turned upwards abruptly for about a foot, and the ver- 

 tical part of the hole leads into a rounded excavation, 

 of just sufficient size for the animal to lie coiled up in. 

 When the burrow is increased in length, the extension 

 takes place in the same level as the first or horizontal 

 part, leaving the dormitory like an upstair room. It is 

 not unusual in a long burrow to find several of these 

 resting-places, but always ])laced above the line of the 

 burrow in such a manner as to ensure good drainage, 

 and to place the animal in a position of advantage on the 

 approach of an enemy within his abode. 



" If taken young, the Badger may be easily and com- 

 pletely tamed. I had one for a considerable time, 

 which was sent to me by my late valued friend, James 

 Buckland, Esq., of Shaftesbury, who had obtained it 

 from a cottager in the neighbourhood, whose children 

 Mr. Buckland accidentally saw playing with the Badger 

 as familiarly as they would with a puppy. He found 

 that the animal had been taken when very young, and 

 had been brought up as the playmate of the children ; 

 it had, however, become rather too rough in its fondness, 

 aiul the poor man was willing to part wilh it. it thus 



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