142 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



"A labourer going to his work, soon after five o'clock in 

 the morning, saw a number of Einimals coming towards him, 

 and stood quietly by the hedge till they came alongside ol 

 him. He then perceived four old otters, probably dams, 

 and about twenty young ones. He took a stick out of the 

 hedge and killed one. Directly it began to squeak, all the 

 four old ones turned back, and stood till the other young 

 ones had escaped through the hedge, and then went quietly 

 themselves. Several families were thus journeying together, 

 and probably they had left their former abode from not 

 finding a sufficiency of food." Otters have often been tamed 

 and taught to catch fish for their masters. Captain Brown 

 tells of an otter which was caught when young and trained 

 by James Campbell near Inverness. " It was frequently employed 

 in catching fish, and would, sometimes, take eight or ten 

 salmon in a day. If not prevented, it always made an 

 attempt to break the fish behind the anal fin, which is next 

 the tail; and, £is soon as one was taken away, it always 

 dived in pursuit of more. It was equally dexterous at sea 

 fishing, and took great numbers of young cod, and other 

 fish, there. When tired, it would refuse to fish any longer, 

 and was then rewarded with as much as it could devour. 

 Having satisfied its appetite, it always coiled itself round, 

 and fell asleep : in which state it was generally carried home." 

 Professor Steller says that on killing and skinning a female 

 otter, which he found at a place at which he had deprived 

 her of her young eight days previously, he found her quite 

 wasted away from grief at the loss of her progeny. 



The Badger. There are several varieties of Badger, the 

 Indian and the American being the most important, re- 

 spectively of the eastern and western worlds. The common 

 badger (Meles taxtis), which is found in different parts of 

 England, feeds upon roots, bulbs, fruits, and all kinds of 

 vegetables, as well as small animals, snails and worms. He 

 has also a great fancy for eggs. He lives in burrows, which 



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