170 THE BADGER. 



One of the most distinct runways from the main 

 earth will be found to terminate, after a few paces, 

 at a hollow in the ground often the pit left after 

 the filling in by the earth-stopper of an old bur- 

 row, which the family has not troubled to reopen. 

 Here vertical holes (about six inches deep and four 

 inches wide) are dug, each hole being used so long 

 as its capacity permits, when another is dug close 

 to it, and so on till the bottom of the pit becomes 

 covered with these scratchings. Thereupon it is 

 forsaken and an adjacent plot taken up, every 

 warren having several of these special allotments, 

 old and new, within easy reach of the burrows. 

 The amount of deposit left in a single night is 

 really surprising, and the exhaustion of available 

 space for this purpose may have something to 

 do with the periodical abandonment of warrens. 

 It is also true that, after a warren has been in 

 use for some weeks by a large family of badgers, 

 the place is none the worse for a rest. 



These few facts are sufficient to excite our 

 admiration for the badger as a beast of cleanly 

 habits. That he is seldom an offender against man 

 I hope shortly to show ; and since he is so easily 

 located by those who know him, and so much at 

 our mercy when located, having only his own 

 powers as a marvellous fighting -machine with 

 which to withstand our unjustifiable persecution, 

 the lover of wild woodland life has every right to 

 call for the badger's protection. The killing of a 

 badger is never excusable. Dig him out where 

 he is too plentiful, for this must be so at times ; 

 but having caught him alive, enclose him in a 

 wooden box and send him to some part of the 

 country where he is rare. Many Scottish land- 

 owners would be glad to have him back on their 



