184 



producing two at a birth, and are said to migrate to the 

 south during the winter. The Hare of the plains is of very 

 rare occurrence : in size it rather exceeds the British hare, 

 and turns white during the winter. I killed a specimen of it 

 on my journey to Edmonton House, in the autumn of 1825; 

 it was a female, and giving suck at that time, (the middle of 

 September,) and was of a much lighter grey than the English 

 animal. Not being aware of the scarcity of this creature, 

 and indeed confounding it with the common hare, I took but 

 little care of its skin, which was lost in consequence. 



Another very interesting animal is the Badger of the plains. 

 Its general appearance resembles the European species, 

 but it is not so large. These creatures burrow in flie open 

 plains, making their holes perpendicular at the entrance, 

 which, when concealed by the growth of the grass, prove 

 very troublesome to the pedestrian and dangerous to the 

 mounted hunter, whose horse at full speed is often thrown 

 by them, to the no small risk of the rider's neck. fli^ 

 badgers are very dexterous at concealing themselves in their 

 burrows, and it is difficult to dig them out. We adopted 

 the plan of filling their holes with water, which forced the 

 animals to come out, when we secured them easily. The 

 same method proved successful for catching the ground 

 squirrels, but it is not likely that it would answer equally well 

 when the earth is thoroughly thawed, as the water wo 

 then drain off, and the little creatures would dig deeper and 

 deeper, throwing up the earth behind them, which would 

 prevent the water from reaching them. The Badgers ap- 

 pear to be partly carnivorous, living on mice and ground 

 squirrels, which their claws are admirably adapted for 



digging up. 



The Small Wolf, or Prairie Dog^ is a very common inhabi- 

 tant of the plains. .Its size is Intermediate between the com- 

 mon wolf and the fox. Like the former of these animals, 

 the Prairie Bogs hunt in packs of from 3 to 50 and more, 

 and thus, from their number, they become an overmatch for 

 the largest animals of the country ; they are also so impu<5^°^ 

 that they will venture within a few yards of the hunter, and 



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