NATURE AND SPORT IN BRITAIN 



the nests of wild bees. Having discovered these, 

 they proceed to rifle the combs. They are absolutely 

 oblivious as are our English badgers of the stings 

 of the infuriated bees, their tough, thick, and loose 

 coats protecting them from any serious injury. No 

 doubt, too, after thousands of years of honey-plunder- 

 ing, they are practically immune to the attacks of their 

 victims. Ratels are strong and very courageous beasts. 

 The Boers of South Africa hold them in high respect 

 as do the natives and assert that a pair of these beasts 

 will occasionally attack a human being. I have heard 

 of men being treed by these animals, but whether the 

 tale was true or false I am uncertain. What is certain 

 is that the ratel, or honey badger, of South Africa is 

 a beast extremely difficult to kill, by reason of his 

 tough constitution, good defensive powers, and extra- 

 ordinarily loose coat, and that he is, when meddled 

 with or put out, a beast of very high courage and 

 unpleasant manners. 



Our English badger, known of old by such various 

 names as Brock, Gray, Boreson, and Bauson, measures, 

 in a good specimen, as much as two feet six inches in 

 length. He will weigh certainly up to thirty-five 

 pounds, possibly more, in exceptional instances. Pen- 

 nant, the well-known naturalist of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury, had a tame badger (a male) which weighed 

 thirty-four pounds. In November, 1902, Mr. Arthur 

 Heinemann, master of the Cheriton Otter Hounds, 

 unearthed a pair of badgers near Exford, in North 

 Devon, which weighed respectively thirty-three pounds 

 (the boar) and thirty-four pounds (the sow.) There 

 is absolutely no good reason for supposing that even 

 these weights are not sometimes exceeded. 



As a rule the badger makes its home in a snug and 

 deep earth, often having several chambers. In this 



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