THE BADGER. 



should be read in extenso by everyone desiring accurate informa- 

 tion on the subject. 



By many people the Badger is regarded as a solitary animal, 

 but in out-of-the-way places, where it is seldom disturbed, it 

 appears to be sociable enough. When staying out at night in the 

 great woods belonging to Earl Bathurst, in Gloucestershire, 

 I have had three in sight at one time, and watched their move- 

 ments within thirty yards of where I was seated. St. John once 

 counted seven in view at once on the south shore of Loch Ness. 

 The habits of the animal are strictly nocturnal, and it is only in 

 the summer evenings, when the darkness lasts but a few hours, 

 that it is ever met with while it is light. During winter it not 

 only keeps entirely within its hole, but fills up the mouth of it to 

 exclude the cold and keep out any unwelcome intruder.* It will 

 remain a long time without food in winter, as proved by the 

 absence of its footprints in the snow around its den, and sleeps a 

 great deal, curled up with its head under its breast. If dug out 

 at this time of year it will be found to have the forepaws quite 

 wet, as if they had recently been in the animal's mouth. 



Huntsmen are often heard to say that they dislike Badgers 

 because they drive the Foxes away, and dispossess them of their 

 burrows. But this is quite an erroneous idea, for the two species 

 not only live on very good terms, but have been known to occupy 

 the same burrow. An instance of this came under my notice in 

 the woods near Wardour Castle, Wiltshire ; and a second case, 

 known to me, occurred in Leicestershire, where, for at least six 

 years, a vixen Fox reared her litter in the same earth with 

 Badgers. This happened on the property of the late Mr. Alfred 

 Ellis, of "The Brand," near Loughborough, who was a great 

 lover of natural history, and took great pains to protect a 

 colony of Badgers which he had established there, solely for 

 the pleasure of studying their habits. In a letter to 'The 

 Times,' of Oetober 24th, 1877, which I have preserved, he gave 

 a most interesting account of his observations; and as the 

 experiment is somewhat unique of its kind, it is worthy of being 



* In Sweden, according to Ekstrom, the winter sleep of the Badge 

 generally lasts from the middle of November until the middle of March, 

 dependent upon the season. That the winter sleep is not deep is proved by 

 the fact that if a long thaw sets in they will leave their burrows and come 

 out to seek for food. 



