NATURE AND SPORT IN BRITAIN 



know badgers have been hunting for worms ; and I 

 can see the shiny places where they, like Sally, have 

 pressed their noses hard into the turf." 



When the worms are retreating into the ground, the 

 badger gets its nose right down on to the soil, and 

 sucks and tugs until its slippery plunder is compelled 

 to yield itself and come away. 



This same badger was utilised as a " drag "for a 

 pack of hounds. " I used to take her for a long walk," 

 says her owner, " after giving strict injunctions that 

 the hounds should not be unkennelled until I came to 

 say Sally was safe in her yard, and as a further safe- 

 guard, notwithstanding her tremendous weight, I 

 always carried her the first and last part of the way. 

 She weighed twenty-six pounds at her best (or rather 

 worst, for it was most difficult to keep her down), and 

 was a solid dead weight, most tiring to carry, though 

 she kept quite still and often fell asleep under my cape." 

 These few instances will show how tame this animal, 

 normally one of the most shy, suspicious, and retiring 

 of all our wild British fauna, will become, with care, 

 patience, and good treatment. 



Sixty years ago, St. John, in his delightful Wild 

 Sports of the Highlands, wrote of the badger as likely to 

 become soon extinct in England, although it might 

 survive much longer in the wild and unpeopled North. 

 That prophecy has, happily, not been fulfilled. There 

 are plenty of badgers still pursuing a quiet and happy 

 existence in many parts of England. If huntsmen and 

 keepers and casual sportsmen will give them but fair 

 play and something like a chance for life, there is no 

 reason whatever why these curious animals should not 

 be found flourishing in this country for at least another 

 century. 



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