12 
MAMMALS OF LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND. 
Vicarage, of a fine clog Otter, killed 19th Dec., 1888, between lA)ddington 
Eedditch and “ Tugby Bushes,” in the Eye Bi'ook, a little stream which 
rises at Tilton and runs into the Welland at Easton Magna, the place 
where it was killed being at least twelve miles from the Welland. It was 
22i lbs. in weight, and measured 4 ft. 1 in. from nose to tip of tail, the latter 
being 17 inches in length, and 8 in circumference at base. 
In Kutland. — Mr. Horn informs me that they occasionally occur, and that, 
in January, 1888, one was seen in the Welland, about a mile above Gretton JMill. 
According to 3Ir. Finch, one, or more, has also been seen in Burley Ponds. 
Fossil Carnivora. — It is somewhat singular that no remains of this Order 
should have, as yet, been discovered in Leicestershire. Taking into consideration 
the fact of the occurrence in the county of several Ungulates contemporaneous 
with such Carnivora as Ursus spelceus, Felis spelceus, etc., it is really extra- 
ordinary that no vestiges of the latter Order have been discovered. Writing 
to IMr. H. E. Quilter, a well-known Leicestershire geologist, upon this subject, 
I received the following reply : — “ I have thought over the question as to remains 
of Carnivora in our post-tertiary deposits, and, although I have seen a good 
many remains of other orders, have never recognized any as belonging to the 
Carnivora. They are not mentioned, I find, in Ansted’s ‘Geology of Leicester- 
shire,’ in J. W. Judd’s ‘ Geological Survey and Memoir of the County,’ nor in 
Hamson’s ‘ Geology.’ This seems strange, as they are found in post-tertiaries 
near Stamford and Peterborough ; Hycena in a cave near Stamford, Hycena 
spekea and Canis lupus in estuarine gravels near Peterborough. Possibly other 
conditions prevailed which prevented their living hereabout ; or, it may be, we 
have not representatives of the beds in which their remains (Carnivora) are 
found in neighbouring localities.” 
Order INSECTIYOEA. 
Sub-order IXSECTIVORA VERA. 
Family T A L P I D ^ . 
COMJION jMOLE. Talpa europcea, Linnieus. 
Resident and common. — Harley was informed by a man who had been a 
professional ]Mole-catcher for more than sixty years, that he had never seen a 
Mole alive in a state of freedom. No doubt it is seldom seen above ground, 
though Mr. IMacaulay tells me that, about 1881 or ’82, he observed one whilst 
driving between Mowsley and Saddington, and succeeded in catching it before 
it had time to bury itself. 
