AN EXCAVATION OF A BADGER SETT IN SOUTHEND 71
was about 250 yards. The soil was a light clay with six inches of
topsoil. The height above sea level was about 40 feet.
The reasons for the dig were twofold. Firstly, to ensure that
no badgers were in the sett. The field was due to be levelled for
a recreation ground which would involve using heavy machinery
and any badgers in occupation would probably have been killed.
Secondly, to investigate the layout of this simple sett, the results
of which work form the subject of this paper.
The method used was to lay sheets of paper on the floor of
the tunnels and to stuff the remaining space with newspaper
before removing the roof, preventing the roof from caving in and
thus preserving the shape of the tunnel. Narrow trenches were
dug a little to one side of the tunnel, giving a greater chance
of leaving the tunnels intact for measurement. An auger was
particularly useful for anticipating the tunnel's winding course.
Measurements, as follows, were taken every two feet of the
tunnel's length: depth of tunnel floor below ground (taken as
level), height of tunnel, width of tunnel. It was not possible to
complete the measurements for the tunnel length D to G, but it
was established that there were no more side tunnels leading off
this length.
As is shown in the diagrams, the two entrances were con-
nected, but the pattern of the tunnels was by no means regular.
There was, of course, no means of identifying the configuration of
the tunnels from the surface but it was particularly noticeable that
the tunnels became more curved the farther away they were from
the entrances. Bedding was present in some quantity over
virtually the whole of the length of the tunnels, but towards their
blind ends, it was damp and mildewed. The bedding chamber
was a fairly symmetrical cavity being about 1' 8" high and 1' 7"
wide at its largest point, and as such was the deepest point
reached, the bottom being 3' 3" below ground level. It contained
Figure 2.—Upper: Tunnel depth B-C and D-F.
Lower: Tunnel width B-C and D-F.