HABITS OF THE BADGER. 287 



(luriri;:^ tlie winter, altliou^li ]i(3 always caine out to take liis food 

 and water, and did not appear at all slii^^'^isli or inclined to 

 hibernate even when the weather was so cold as to make it 

 necessary to pour hot water into the pan that was ])laced witliin 

 his cage, to enable him to drink, as cohl water wouhl have 

 frozen immediately, and in fact the pan generally had a stratum 

 of ice on the bottom which the hot water dissolved when poured 

 in at feeding-time. 



" Oar Badger was fed regularly, and soon grew very fat; its 

 coat changed completely, became woolly and a buff-brown 

 color, and the fur by the month of February had become in- 

 deed the most effectual protection against cold that can well 

 be imagined. 



" We had an opportunity in Charleston of observing almost 

 daily for a fortnight, the habits of a i:>adger in a menagerie ; 

 he was rather gentle, and would suffer himself to be played 

 with and fondled by his keeper, but did not appear as well 

 pleased with strangers; he occasionally growled at us, and 

 would not suffer us to examine him without the i>resence and 

 aid of his keeper. 



"In running, his fore feet crossed each other, and his body 

 nearly touched the ground. The heel did not press on the 

 ground like that of the bear, but w^as only slightly elevated 

 above it. He resembled the Maryland marmot in running, 

 and progressed with about the same speed. We have never 

 seen any animal that could exceed him in digging. He would 

 fall to work with his strong feet and long nails, and in a min- 

 ute bury himself in the eartli, and would very soon advance to 

 the end of a chain ten feet in length. In digging, the liind, as 

 well as the fore feet, were at work, the latter for the purpose of 

 excavating, and the former, (like paddles,) for expelling the 

 earth out of the hole, and nothing seemed to delight him more 

 than burrowing in the ground ; he seemed never to become 

 weary of this kind of amusement ; and when he had advanced 

 to the length of his chain he would return and commence 

 a fresh gallery near the mouth of the first hole; thus he 

 would be occupied for hours, and it was necessary to drag him 

 away by main force. He lived on good terms with the rac- 

 coon, gray fox, prairie wolf, and a dozen other species of 

 animals. He was said to be active and playful at night, but 

 he seemed rather dull during the day, usually lying rolled up 

 like a ball, with his head under his body for hours at a time. 



