THE BADGER 



shall be glad if any one can enlighten me on 

 this subject' " 



In reply to " Wilfred " there were several 

 letters, among which were the following : — 



" Sir, — Undoubtedly; every one that they 

 can get near, and more especially hand- 

 reared cubs that have not got the old foxes 

 to protect them. I was first told this by 

 old Jem Hills, the well-known huntsman of 

 the Heythrop, in his latter years ; and sub- 

 sequently I had positive proof of what he 

 said. On one occasion a man brought a fine 

 half-grown cub to my house which he had 

 picked up dead in the road he came along. 

 It was bitten most severely through and 

 behind the shoulder, and I at once remarked 

 to a friend that was with me, ' That is the 

 work of a badger.' On going down to an 

 earth where I knew there was a natural litter, 

 we found tracks of a badger all about the 

 place, as if he had been hunting the cubs. 

 Having at the time eight cubs that I was 

 hand-rearing in an artificial drain, I thought 



it was high time to look after them, for 



67 



