MAMMALS The mammals, reptiles and batrachians of Suffolk have hitherto received very little attention. As far as I am aware no list embracing the whole area of the county has ever been published. Several his- tories of separate towns and villages have from time to time appeared, but few of these contain any remarks on the animal life of their respec- tive districts, and in the rare exceptions to this rule only slight sketches, confined principally to the birds and insects, are given. Over the greater part of the county game preserving is almost the universal custom, and all carnivorous animals meet with ceaseless persecution, including species which are not only harmless but even beneficial to the interests of those who destroy them. Unfortunately it is in those very districts which still remain un- cultivated, and whose natural features are most favourable to the preser- vation of such animals as the badger, marten, etc., that the destruction of so-called ' vermin ' is most strenuously carried on. Moreover having become rarities, their skins are of value for stuffing, so that any stray wanderer finding its way to the woods and heaths of Suffolk stands a very poor chance of remaining long in peace and security. Rather more than a quarter of a century ago there were beavers in this county, living in a state of partial liberty in Sotterley Park ; but, as I am informed by Mr. Ling, agent on that estate, they soon strayed away and were in a short time all lost or killed. These animals were brought from Canada by the late Colonel Barne, about the year 1868, and were of course of the American species Castor canadensis (Kuhl), which is considered to be specifically distinct from the European beaver. About the year 1873 or 1874 a number of alpine or Irish hares {Lepus variabilis, Pallas) from Ireland were turned down by the late Sir Richard Wallace at Iken, on the Sudbourn Hall estate. They bred freely and spread in various directions, specimens having been observed at Gedgrave and other places in the neighbourhood. They appear however to have gradually died out, none having been seen now for some years past. The keeper on whose beat these animals were liber- ated described the young ones as being very stupid and helpless, often falling into the marsh ditches and getting drowned. He has found as many as three or four dead leverets in the water in one morning. No hybrids between this species and the common hare were observed by this man. As regards the Cetacea, it is very probable that examples may from time to time have been stranded on the beach, or caught in herring 215
