32 FARM VERMIN, HELPFUL AND HURTFUL. 



down the devourers of his crops. One curious result of the 

 Act is that, whereas in many districts the hare has become 

 virtually extinct, the rabbit has greatly increased. The 

 former being a wandering animal is naturally snapped up by 

 the man on whose land it happens to be, lest it should get 

 into his neighbour's pie-dish instead of his own. The 

 rabbit, on the other hand, being more stay-at-home and 

 keeping to one place, has, since it became the property of 

 the occupier, been carefully fostered and looked after and 

 considered a most valuable perquisite — a curious instance of 

 how circumstances alter cases.* 



One of the favourite repasts of the badger is the nest of 

 the wasp, of which he destroys great numbers. This he 

 will grub out from any depth, not for the honey, for the wasps 

 do not lay it up, but for the larvae — a most delicious morsel 

 for him. 



Having lived for some time in a great fruit-growing district 

 we can testify to the enormous damage done by wasps to 

 fruit, even to the extent of quite one-half the produce, and 

 we have thought a few badgers w^ould have been of great 

 help in keeping these pests under. 



From the middle of November to the middle of March 

 badgers hibernate and keep to their holes, filling up the 

 entrance to exclude the cold. They are, however, frequently 

 tempted from their retreat by mild weather. The poor 

 retiring "brock" is the most innocuous and peaceable of 

 animals in his daily life, and deserves protection from man, 

 committing no depredations on his poultry and flocks. It 

 is difficult to understand that there are men so brutal as to 

 deliberately promote the tortures of a quiet, harmless, and 

 most inoffensive animal, in the cowardly amusement known 

 as badger-baiting. Man, as a rule, deals most cruelly with the 

 wild creatures amongst which he has lived so long — the birds 



* I have observed the same fact — it is very general. — Editor, 



