iS NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY, 



tried, and has aflured me of the truth. The only thing that 

 is ufeful in the Otter is his lkin : this is covered with thick and 

 fhort hair, and keeps out water % 



SEC T, XVII. 



Badger. The Badger, Brock or Greving, which is alio called here Sviin 



Sok, is like a fmall hog, with long black or grey hair, and fhort 

 and crooked legs : he undermines the ground, and lives on mice, 

 fnakes and infecls. The Badger's bite is bad, and his teeth are 

 very fharp ; where he fixes them he does not loofe his hold, till 

 he hears the bone crack betwixt his teeth. The penis of the 

 Badger is, like the fea calf 's, a hard bone. His enemy the fox, 

 who is too lazy to dig himfelf a hole, feizes the Badger's when 

 he is out, and fills it with fuch a ftench, that the owner never 

 cares for it afterwards f. 



SECT. XVIII. 



Porcupine, or The Porcupine, Pindfwiin, which is called by many Bufte- 



SeKjdic-^y 761 ? ls Efficiently known What I have to obferve concerning 



SsaHefe s creature ls on ty tms > ^at k e conveys himfelf often into the 



hog as weii as bear's holes ; and, with his numerous prickles, is fb troublefbme 



orcupme. to ^ rough hoft, who cannot any way revenge himfelf on the 



impertinent gueft, that he is obliged to do as the badger does to 



the fox, quit his lodging. 



Mole, The Mole, Muldvarpen, whofe proper Norvegian Name is 



Vond, is found in the eaft parts, but very frequently elfewhere : 



as far as I have been able to find out, 'tis in a manner unknown 



in this quarter J probably our rocky ground does not fuit this 



famous miner. He lives upon worms and infe&s during Summer, 



and in the Winter they eat nothing ; but, like the porcupine and 



bear, lie in a ftate of infenfibility, in a trance, or a kind of 



flumber. 



SECT. XIX. 



Rats . The Rat, Rotter ; of thefe we have feveral kinds, particu- 



larly Foreft or Wood, and Water-Rats; thefe are not longer- 

 liv'd in Nord than Helgeland, where they foon die, if brought 



* For feveral years lately Otters fldns have been wanted, in Holland and Germany, 

 more than ever; according to our merchants accounts, who export from hence 

 annually feveral thoufands. 



f Nature has wonderfully provided thefe creatures with a fucking-hole, under their 

 body, betwixt their hind-legs, into which they, in Winter, run their (harp fnout up to 

 their eyes, and receive nourifhment there, as the bears do from their paws. Hans Frid. 

 Flemming German Huntfman, p. 115. 



there 



