﻿108 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  THE 
  GESTATION 
  OF 
  THE 
  BADGER. 
  

   By 
  Alfred 
  Heneage 
  Cocks, 
  M.A. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  James 
  Paterson's 
  experience, 
  as 
  related 
  by 
  Mr. 
  C. 
  Cook 
  

   (ante, 
  p. 
  30), 
  forms 
  a 
  new 
  link 
  in 
  the 
  curiously 
  twisted 
  chain 
  of 
  

   evidence 
  on 
  this 
  puzzling 
  question. 
  I 
  therefore 
  wrote 
  to 
  Mr. 
  

   Paterson, 
  requesting 
  further 
  particulars, 
  and 
  he 
  has 
  very 
  kindly 
  

   sent 
  me 
  the 
  following 
  full 
  and 
  interesting 
  account 
  of 
  his 
  experi- 
  

   ences 
  (here 
  very 
  slightly 
  abridged 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  places 
  from 
  the 
  

   original). 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  also 
  hunted 
  up 
  every 
  scrap 
  of 
  information 
  my 
  own 
  

   small 
  library 
  furnished 
  relative 
  to 
  the 
  breeding 
  of 
  this 
  species, 
  

   with 
  the 
  result 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  led 
  to 
  what 
  is 
  certainly 
  a 
  sur- 
  

   prising 
  conclusion 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  gestation 
  ; 
  and, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  an 
  entirely 
  

   new 
  one 
  to 
  me, 
  it 
  assuredly 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  product 
  of 
  any 
  theory 
  un- 
  

   consciously 
  held. 
  Whether 
  it 
  will 
  meet 
  with 
  general 
  acceptance 
  

   remains 
  to 
  be 
  seen. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Paterson 
  writes 
  : 
  — 
  " 
  My 
  first 
  Badger 
  to 
  be 
  kept 
  in 
  con- 
  

   finement 
  was 
  a 
  female, 
  caught 
  by 
  my 
  son 
  on 
  Jan. 
  15th, 
  1897. 
  

   Noticing 
  a 
  newly-wrought 
  earth 
  on 
  a 
  lone 
  hillside, 
  where 
  bundles 
  

   of 
  rough 
  bracken 
  and 
  fern 
  were 
  so 
  arranged 
  about 
  the 
  entrance 
  

   as 
  almost 
  to 
  conceal 
  it, 
  his 
  curiosity 
  was 
  aroused 
  ; 
  so, 
  digging 
  

   the 
  place, 
  he 
  secured 
  its 
  solitary 
  occupant, 
  and 
  brought 
  her 
  

   home. 
  On 
  Feb. 
  27th 
  following 
  she 
  gave 
  birth 
  to 
  three 
  cubs, 
  of 
  

   which 
  one 
  (a 
  female) 
  was 
  successfully 
  reared. 
  On 
  Nov. 
  25th 
  I 
  

   secured 
  a 
  male. 
  The 
  following 
  spring 
  and 
  summer, 
  i. 
  e. 
  1898, 
  

   were 
  times 
  of 
  diligent 
  watchfulness 
  after 
  sundown, 
  for 
  it 
  would 
  

   appear 
  that 
  no 
  amount 
  of 
  captivity 
  will 
  change 
  a 
  Badger 
  from 
  its 
  

   nocturnal 
  ways. 
  At 
  last 
  I 
  had 
  my 
  reward, 
  as 
  on 
  July 
  10th 
  an 
  

   attempt 
  to 
  mate 
  with 
  the 
  old 
  female 
  was 
  noted 
  ; 
  and 
  this 
  was 
  

   followed 
  two 
  nights 
  later 
  by 
  an 
  undoubted 
  pairing. 
  My 
  vigilance 
  

   after 
  this 
  somewhat 
  relaxed, 
  and 
  nothing 
  further 
  of 
  importance 
  

   was 
  seen. 
  

  

  " 
  On 
  Feb. 
  13th, 
  1899, 
  going 
  into 
  the 
  kennel, 
  I 
  saw 
  something 
  

   was 
  wrong 
  by 
  the 
  way 
  the 
  old 
  female 
  sprung 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  corner, 
  and 
  

   found 
  a 
  young 
  one 
  there, 
  dead. 
  Judging 
  from 
  its 
  appearance 
  in 
  

   comparison 
  to 
  the 
  young 
  of 
  the 
  previous 
  year, 
  I 
  concluded 
  that 
  

   another 
  three 
  weeks 
  or 
  perhaps 
  a 
  month 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  required 
  

   to 
  have 
  brought 
  it 
  to 
  maturity. 
  

  

  