MAMMALS In a highly-cultivated district such as the county of Norfolk there is, as might be expected, a marked absence of the larger mammals other than those preserved as objects of sport in some form ; nevertheless there remain considerable tracts of wild ground which from the nature of the soil or other causes are likely to continue to afford shelter to some species not directly protected. The most noteworthy of these is perhaps the otter, which holds its own in the trackless reed-beds and sedge-covered marshes of the broads, and in the rough herbage which clothes the mar- gins of the sluggish rivers. The quiet maintained in the numerous strictly- preserved game coverts is favourable to the habits of others, especially to the smaller carnivora and rodents, in spite of the efforts of an army of gamekeepers for their destruction. The wild cat has here long since dis- appeared, but the marten and badger are still met with, the former at long and uncertain intervals, the latter more frequently, but the native race of each has been exterminated, and both should be regarded either as acci- dental wanderers or escapes, and the once abundant polecat has become very rare. The indigenous race of foxes has doubtless long been extinct, and it is likely that those now at large in this county are the offspring of strangers introduced to keep up the supply of these animals in a hunting country. The old English black rat {Mus rattus) has till quite recently been regarded as all but, if not quite, extinct as a native, and the dis- covery of a considerable colony of this species in the town of Great Yarmouth by Mr. Patterson, although very interesting, must, I think, be taken to indicate rather a re-introduction than a survival of the race. In the list which follows the marine mammals are largely repre- sented. This might be expected from the varied and extensive sea-board which forms so large a section of the boundary of the county, more especially of that portion facing west and bordering the great estuary of the Wash lying between the counties of Lincolnshire and Norfolk and extending to the outfall of the river Ouse at King's Lynn. Here exist many miles of littoral swarming with Crustacea of various kinds and vast quantities of marine molluscs, admirably adapted to the requirements of some species of the Phocidas, whilst the great extent of tidal waters, for the most part shallow, consisting of a network of sand-banks intersected by deep channels, form a veritable trap for the entanglement of stray Cetaceans wandering from the deep waters. It is possible that a closer examination of the individuals of both these families, which from time to time are met with but seldom come under the observation of a competent authority, might still add to the number of recognized species 246
