NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
41
at Steven's Auction Rooms, on the 10th December, 1889, a case of British
Weasels (lot 52) contained a fine Marten, stated to have been killed at Chingford,
Essex—date not mentioned. It belonged to a Mr. West, of High Street, Graves-
end, for whom the case was bought in at a reserved price (Essex Naturalist,
vol. iii, p. 271). Mr. E. A. Fitch, of Maldon, heard that the reason the capture
was not published was that the woodman who set the trap was afraid of getting
into trouble, and that they knew all about it at the 'Bald-faced Stag'" (Essex
Naturalist, vol. iv., p. 126 ; see also vol. iv., p. 185).
Singular Adventure of a Fox.—"The other morning a lad employed at
the Lion Inn, St. Osyth, observed a fine dog fox in the inn yard, playing with
two cats, The lad, with others, pursued the animal, which bolted into the garden,
and in attempting to escape underneath the gate was captured, one boy seizing
it by the head and another by the brush. Reynard was securely muzzled and
tied up, presumably for future sport."—"Essex Standard," December 12th, 1891.
Destruction of Otters in Essex.—It is very distressing to read in the
county newspapers paragraphs announeng, time after time, the shooting or trapping
of otters. Why are these poor beasts so persecuted? One would think that any
one with a spark of feeling for nature would cherish rather than seek to destroy
such an interesting inhabitant of our streams and rivers. Naturalists have pro-
tested again and again against the destruction of otters, even in the supposed
interests of anglers, but in vain. The man with the gun is omnipresent and
insatiable; in him the savage delight of mere destruction overpowers all sense of
pity or regard for nature's pensioners; that they live, move, and feel is a sufficient
incentive to the noble, or ignoble, "sportsman" to hunt, maim, and kill them all
—eagle, fox, hawk, jay, or otter—in defiance of enlightened public feeling, and
disregard of remonstrance or argument. And we can only sigh and bear the
wrong, until the community takes courage, and, in defence of our fast disappear-
ing fauna, stays by law the ruthless destructiveness of a few of its members. The
following are records of otter-killing in Essex which we have noted during the
last two months :
Bishop's Stortford.—"A large otter, weighing about 24lbs., was shot the other
day by Mr. Towler, at Hay Mead Springs."—"Essex County Chronicle," Decem-
ber 18th, 1891.
Great Bentley.—"Mr. Luigi Corti, of the Cottage, last week shot two otters,
which were turned out of a fleet near his house."—"Essex County Chronicle,''
December 25th.
Chappel.—"On January 11th, Mr. J. S. Goodey, of Broom House, shot a fine
dog otter, in the river near his residence, which measured four feet one inch from
the tip of the nose to the end of the pole, and weighed 221/2lbs. This gentleman
also shot one about a year ago, and has shot as many as six in the same river at
various times."—" Essex Standard," January 16th, 1892.
Stoke-by-Nayland.—"Mr. Harry Church, of Rams Farm, Stoke-by-Nayland,
shot, on Monday evening, January nth, a very fine female otter on the river
Bot, measuring four feet in length, and weighing 16lbs."—"Essex Standard,"
January 16th.
Heybridge.—"On Wednesday morning Mr. F. Cocks, of Heybridge Mill, was
walking, with his gun and dog, along the banks of the Navigation water, between
the old station bridge and his mill. Suddenly the dog stopped, and began bark-
ing and sniffing round the stump of a decayed tree. Mr. Cocks went back to