MAMMALS 



h.im a fine badger which had been taken alive 

 with its young one, but it unfortunately soon 

 died in consequence of improper feeding. 



23. Otter. Lutralutra, Linn. 

 Bell — Lutra vulgaris. 

 Occurs in several of the streams of the 



county. It is occasionally hunted at Farning- 

 ham and elsewhere. 



24. Common Seal. Phoca vitulina, Linn. 



Recorded from the Thames and Medway. 

 R. Pocock- wrote in 1809, 'seals were most 

 uncommon.' 



RODENTIA 



25. Squirrel. Sciurus leucourus, Kerr. 



Bell — Sciurus vulgaris. 

 Very common in some of the wooded dis- 

 tricts, particularly where the sweet chestnut 

 is grown. It has a habit of making two or 

 three ' dreys,' or nests, at a time, which it 

 frequents at breeding time ; if its young be 

 in any way disturbed, they are quickly re- 

 moved to another ' drey.' It lives largely on 

 nuts, but when these are unobtainable, exists 

 chiefly on various fungi. 



26. Dormouse. Muscardinus avellanarius, 



Linn. 

 Bell — My ox us avellanarius. 

 Locally, Sleeper. 

 This interesting little mammal is widely 

 distributed throughout the county, but pro- 

 bably is not very abundant anywhere. 



27. Common Brown Rat. Mus decumanus, 



Pallas. 

 In our cornfields, stacks, hedges and build- 

 ings, and by the waterside this pest is 

 abundant. 



28. Black Rat. Mus rattus, Linn. 

 Fielding ' mentions having seen several 



Kentish specimens. It is a recognized native, , 

 and the writer has seen it more than once ; 

 but in the great majority of instances when 

 informed of its presence by country people, 

 he has found the animal to be merely a dingy 

 brown rat. 



29. House Mouse. Mus musculus, Linn. 

 Too common. 



30. Wood Mouse or Long-tailed Mouse. 



Mus sylvaticus, Linn. 

 The long-tailed, wood or field mouse is very 

 abundant in some places ; it seldom comes to 

 houses. Weasels are its inveterate foes. 



31. Harvest Mouse, il/w^ /«/««<«/, Pallas. 

 Of occasional occurrence. A specimen 



from Detling and a nest presented by Mr. 

 Bunyard of Maidstone are in the Maidstone 

 Museum. 



Fielding, Memories of Mailing. 



32. Water Vole. Microtus amphibius, Linn. 



Bell — Arvicola amphibius. 

 Common, bufless so than formerly. 



33. Field Vole. Microtus agrestis, Linn. 



Bell — Arvicola agrestis. 

 Locally, Short-tailed Field Mouse. 

 Common, and widely distributed throughout 

 the county, but not so abundant as former- 

 ly. The Board of Agriculture, in one of its 

 leaflets,' reports that this animal proved a 

 source of much loss in Kent three hundred 

 years ago. Weasels and owls kill large num- 

 bers of them. 



34. Bank Vole. Evotomys glareolus, Schreber. 



Bell — Arvicola glareolus. 

 Mr. L. E. Adams in the Zoologist * writes : 

 ' Last August I came upon a nest of young 

 bank voles amongst some refuse in a hedge 

 bank ; I am sure of its identity. I believe 

 it to be common in the neighbourhood, 

 although I do not remember it having been 

 recorded in Kent before.' In another number 

 of the same paper ^ a very large specimen 

 from Wingham is recorded. This was a 

 female, and measured 6\ in. from tip of 

 nose to tip of tail ; length of head and body, 

 \\ in. Bell gives the length of body and 

 head at 3-4 in., and of tail 1-5 in. Speci- 

 mens are frequently met with throughout 

 the county. 



35. Hare. Lepus europceus, Pallas. 



Bell — Lepus timidus. 

 It was commonly thought in the county 

 that the Ground Game Act would cause this 

 animal to be exterminated, as so much arable 

 land is devoted to market gardening and fruit 

 culture. But, on the contrary, it seems to be 

 nearly as abundant now as formerly. 



36. Rabbit. Lepus cuniculus, Linn. 

 Generally very abundant ; so much so that 



it does an incredible amount of damage to 



2 G. M. Arnold : op. cit. 



3 Leaflet No. 6. 



< The Zoologist (1895), p. 427. 

 ^ Ibid. (ser. 4), ii. p. 477. 



305 



39 



