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 MAMMALS CARNIVORA 13. Fox. Cants vulpes, Linn. Bell Vulpes vulgaris. Common and generally distributed. 14. Pine Marten. Mustela martes, Linn. Bell Marlei abietum. Extinct within the memory of men still living, and formerly fairly distributed in suit- able localities, especially in the northern half of the county. Garner says that it has occurred in v/oods in Dilhorne, Consall, in Needwood Forest and in the limestone dis- trict. It seems probable that the headquarters of this species in Staffordshire were the wood- lands of the north and east, and that it was never so abundant south of the Trent. Dick- enson writing about 1798, although well acquainted with the badger, otter and polecat, which he calls fitchet, does not mention the pine marten, so that it seems possible that even in his day the ' sweet mart ' was very rare even if at all known in the centre of the county with which portion he was evidently most familiar. 15. Polecat or Linn. Fitchet. Putorius Bell Mustela putorius. Nearly if not quite extinct although for- merly occurring in most parts of the county. Dickenson knew it well under the name of to in Staffordshire, and records that he has known ' a fitchet when confined and unable to escape, attack a large greyhound.' In 1863 Sir Oswald Mosley wrote that it was still found near Tutbury, ' although becoming more scarce every year,' and at the same time Mr. Edwin Brown reported it as ' occasionally haunting detached out-houses ' near Burton- on-Trent. It appears to have maintained a precarious footing in the west of the county until about 1884, when, as I am informed by Mr. James Yates, M.R.C.S., one was killed at Swinnerton. On asking Mr. Yates for further particulars, he very kindly wrote me as follows, under date 29 January, 1901 : 'I am sorry I am not able to give you a very satisfactory account of the polecat which was killed at Swinnerton about 1884. I was told of the fact by a gamekeeper who lived between Trentham and Swinnerton, but I had not the opportunity of seeing the animal myself. When I was a boy the " fitchet " was fairly common at Horsley a farm a few miles from Eccleshall I have frequently seen them caught in a rat-trap which was covered with fine moss and half-surrounded by a fence made of sticks. The bait was usually a hen's egg.' 1 6. Stoat. Mustela erminea. Linn. Common. In the winter specimens in the white or ' ermine ' dress are sometimes obtained. 17. Weasel. Putorius niva/is, Linn. Bell Mustela vulgaris. Common, and more frequently seen near farms and out-houses than the last named. Badger. Meles me/es, Linn. Bell Melcs taxus. Notwithstanding the persecution to which the badger has been so long subjected, this animal is still far more abundant in Stafford- shire than is usually supposed. Its chief haunts are in the high banks and wild park- lands of the Needwood Forest district, and in the north and west. The nocturnal habits of the badger doubtless tend to its preservation, but occasionally it ventures from its burrow long before sundown, and has several times been seen and captured in broad daylight. Where it has long been undisturbed its bur- rows are extremely extensive and might almost be described as cavernous. Very heavy bad- gers are sometimes captured. One, weighing 34^ Ib. was taken alive in 1894 in the Burnt Woods near Ashley, and the event was re- ported at the time in the Field newspaper. It is to be hoped that landowners will do all they can to discourage the destruction of this very interesting mammal. 19. Otter. Lutra lutra, Linn. Bell Lutra vulgaris. Although much rarer than the badger in Staffordshire, instances of the otter being seen, and too often killed, in the county are recorded nearly every year. Sometimes cubs are killed showing that the otter still breeds within the county boundaries. It occurs chiefly in the Trent, in the Dove and in other smaller tributaries, and also enters Staffordshire from the Severn which crosses the south-western extremity of the county near Arley. Otters have on several occasions come down the Trent to Burton, and on 23 April, 1884, they were seen from Burton Bridge, and, as I learn from Mr. J. E. Nowers, one was shot about this time within the borough boundaries. I heard of another example being seen near the weir in November, 1899, and chased by two ardent, if amateur, sportsmen with a 165
 * fitchet,' by which it is still commonly referred