MAMMALS OF THE REGION 103 



dog towns, where these fat little squirrels have been dug 

 out for food. They also dig out many ground squirrels, 

 kangaroo rats, and mice, getting most of their living by 

 the aid of their long, powerful claws backed by heavy 

 digging muscles. With short legs they have little 

 chance to escape from their enemies, unless a burrow is 

 near enough for refuge, but once the burrow is gained 

 they defy all further pursuit. When escape is cut off, 

 however, they will stand their ground and fight savagely 

 with any opponent. Their thick hides and keen-cut- 

 ting teeth render them no mean antagonist for the 

 largest dog, and they usually get away with less injury 

 than any dog so rash as to attack them. Men and 

 boys, however, can rarely resist the temptation to shoot 

 so large and conspicuous an animal, even though prac- 

 tically harmless and one of the most useful of our 

 native animals. On very rare occasions one may get 

 into a hen-house and kill all the poultry it can find, but 

 this is easily preventable and should be given little 

 weight against the enormous destruction of prairie- 

 dogs and ground squirrels, the most injurious of rodent 

 pests, carried on industriously throughout the year by 

 the badgers. The old excuse for killing badgers, that 

 horses stepped in their burrows and broke their legs 

 and the necks of the riders, is no longer valid, as the 

 days of the cowboy are over. Fat cattle, barbed wire 

 fences, and automobiles have superseded them. 



The badger is a low, wide, heavy-bodied animal about 

 the size of the raccoon, but with short legs, short tail, 

 and very long, powerful digging claws. It has coarse 

 gray fur, with black face markings, and a narrow white 

 line along the middle of face and back. 



