﻿MAMMALIA. 
  

  

  53 
  

  

  "game," 
  although 
  most 
  keepers 
  maintain 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  very 
  

   destructive 
  to 
  such. 
  Frequently 
  the 
  stomach 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  

   to 
  contain 
  large 
  numbers 
  of 
  young 
  wasps, 
  bees, 
  and 
  vegetable 
  

   matter. 
  

  

  Within 
  the 
  confines 
  of 
  " 
  Dee 
  " 
  the 
  Badger 
  is 
  now 
  very 
  rare 
  

   indeed 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  many 
  places 
  where, 
  thirty 
  to 
  forty 
  years 
  ago, 
  

   it 
  was 
  fairly 
  abundant, 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  completely 
  extirpated. 
  In 
  

   the 
  0. 
  S. 
  A. 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  mentioned 
  from 
  five 
  parishes, 
  viz., 
  

   Drumblade, 
  Birse, 
  Glenmuick 
  - 
  Tullich 
  - 
  Glengairn, 
  Crathie- 
  

   Braemar, 
  and 
  Old 
  Deer 
  ; 
  but, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  Polecat, 
  

   the 
  name 
  only 
  is 
  given. 
  In 
  the 
  N. 
  S. 
  A. 
  it 
  is 
  mentioned 
  for 
  

   five 
  parishes 
  in 
  Aberdeenshire, 
  viz., 
  Strathdon, 
  Chapel 
  of 
  

   Garioch, 
  Longside, 
  Drumoak, 
  and 
  Leochel-Cushnie, 
  but 
  

   without 
  particulars. 
  

  

  In 
  Robertson's 
  General 
  View 
  of 
  the 
  Agriculture 
  of 
  Kincardine- 
  

   shire 
  (1807), 
  chap. 
  15, 
  p. 
  395, 
  under 
  the 
  heading 
  "Wild 
  Animals," 
  

   he 
  speaks 
  of 
  the 
  Badger 
  as 
  "a 
  native 
  and 
  a 
  very 
  harmless 
  

   animal." 
  

  

  In 
  Smith's 
  New 
  History 
  of 
  Aberdeenshire 
  it 
  is 
  mentioned 
  as 
  

   " 
  occurring 
  in 
  the 
  parishes 
  of 
  Chapel 
  of 
  Garioch, 
  Glenmuick, 
  

   Tullich, 
  and 
  Glengairn." 
  One 
  was 
  killed 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Duncan, 
  

   keeper. 
  Brucklay 
  Castle, 
  in 
  the 
  Den 
  of 
  Glasslaw, 
  in 
  1860. 
  

   (Horn's 
  Mammalia 
  of 
  Buchan.) 
  Ten 
  Badgers 
  were 
  trapped 
  in 
  

   Glen 
  Tanner 
  between 
  1870 
  and 
  1880. 
  (Harvie-Brown's 
  "Rarer 
  

   Animals 
  of 
  Scotland," 
  Zoologist, 
  1882.) 
  

  

  Prior 
  to 
  1874, 
  Badgers 
  were 
  to 
  be 
  seen, 
  and 
  frequently 
  

   were 
  killed, 
  in 
  the 
  woods 
  of 
  Hazelhead, 
  which 
  lie 
  about 
  two 
  

   miles 
  west 
  of 
  Aberdeen. 
  The 
  last 
  two 
  got 
  in 
  that 
  locality, 
  of 
  

   which 
  the 
  writer 
  has 
  knowledge, 
  were 
  drowned 
  in 
  a 
  water- 
  

   lade, 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  had 
  taken 
  refuge. 
  They 
  held 
  out 
  in 
  the 
  

   woods 
  of 
  Parkhill 
  until 
  1870, 
  in 
  which 
  year 
  a 
  young 
  one 
  was 
  

   taken 
  alive, 
  but 
  none 
  has 
  been 
  seen 
  there 
  since. 
  In 
  the 
  

   woods 
  of 
  Glenkindie, 
  Strathdon, 
  the 
  Badger 
  was 
  killed 
  out 
  

   about 
  fifty- 
  three 
  years 
  ago, 
  but 
  reappeared 
  in 
  1880, 
  as 
  I 
  was 
  

   informed 
  by 
  the 
  proprietor, 
  the 
  late 
  Mr. 
  Leith, 
  who 
  gave 
  

   strict 
  orders 
  that 
  they 
  should 
  be 
  preserved. 
  

  

  This 
  animal 
  was 
  fairly 
  abundant 
  on 
  the 
  estate 
  of 
  Pitfour 
  

   up 
  to 
  about 
  1864, 
  and 
  was 
  last 
  observed 
  there 
  in 
  1870. 
  One 
  

   was 
  seen 
  at 
  Old 
  Mar 
  Lodge 
  in 
  1875. 
  One 
  was 
  killed 
  on 
  the 
  

   estate 
  of 
  Philorth 
  in 
  1877, 
  and 
  another 
  at 
  Castle 
  Fraser 
  in 
  

   1879. 
  A 
  specimen 
  was 
  killed 
  at 
  Wardhouse 
  in 
  1880, 
  which 
  

  

  