THE BADGER 



last-named county, as far as digging for him 

 is concerned ; wliilst it is at home in Cleve- 

 land that I have watched him for nearly 

 twenty years, and gained some knowledge 

 of his mode of life and habits. I am not 

 sure whether there are not a few still left 

 in the Cheviots and the districts of the 

 Upper Tyne and Tweed. Up till about 

 1850 they were to be found on the Cleveland 

 hills, or rather on their wooded sides and in 

 the " gills." The last place where I heard 

 of them being hunted was in the ra\'ine and 

 woods of Kilton. 



A badger's earth or warren is properly and 

 generally called a "set" or "cete." They 

 vary in respect of size, number of entrances, 

 depth of galleries, and choice of site almost 

 as much as rabbit-holes. Sometimes badgers 

 will find sufficient room in rocks to make a 

 hoHK-, and it is extraordinary the excavations 

 tht;y occasionally make in apparently solid 

 rock. Usuall)', however, they select some 

 softer material in which to make their under- 

 ground passag(;s and chambers. They will 

 choose a quiet hillside away from man's 



44 



