44 COMMON BWITlSri ANIMALS 



forefeet, and those assist him greatly in digging out 

 his " set/^ which is the name given to a badger^s 

 earth. Indeed, so rapidly can he dig in some soils 

 that Mr. Millais "^ gives an account of an unsuccess- 

 ful attempt to draw badgers, in which eight able- 

 bodied men were digging for ten days, always 

 hearing the badgers digging beneath them, and 

 finally they had to leave the animals masters of the 

 situation. 



The head and body together measure- about 27 

 or 28 inches and the tail 7J inches. The height at 

 the shoulder is about 11 inches and the average 

 weight of a male badger about 25 lbs. The female 

 is a little smaller. Few people have seen a living 

 badger at home in the woods, for this is not an easy 

 feat to accomplish. Mr. Millaist has described his 

 vigil of the badger with the eloquence of a poet and 

 the true instincts of a sportsman. He says: "To 

 see the badger at home we must take up our position 

 before sunset and await the coming night. The fork 

 of a tree is a good site, as most animals, badgers 

 included, never look upwards, and you can see all 

 things without being seen. In meditative silence 

 you look and listen, as the sounds of daily life 

 gradually die and the voices of the evening float 

 through the surrounding landscape. When you 

 have climbed to your perch the cuckoo is still 

 uttering his monotonous call, the wood pigeon 

 cooing or the turtle dove purring to his mate. The 

 farm boy sings in his raucous voice as he is driving 



* ' Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland/ vol. ii, 63. 

 t Millais, loc. cit., vol. ii, 49. 



