THE MARTEN FAMILY— BADGER. 



169 



Characteristics The common Badger (Meles taxus or 

 of the Meles vulgaris) attains a length of 



Common Badger, thirty inches in its body and seven 

 inches in its tail. Adult males may weigh as much 

 as forty pounds in the fall. The fur is rather long, 

 harsh, nearly bristle-like and glossy. Its color is 

 grayish white mixed with black on the back, reddish 

 on the sides of the body and the tail, black-brown 

 on the under surface and the feet. The head is 

 white, but a faded black stripe runs on each side of 

 the snout, over the eyes and white ears and loses 

 itself in the neck. The females are smaller in size 

 and lighter in color, the whitish woolly under fur 

 coming nearer the surface. White badgers are very 

 rare, and those that are white with chestnut spots 

 are still more rarelv found. 



retain its independence to the most complete degree. 

 Its strength enables it to dig out burrows with ease, 

 and like a few other animals leading a subterranean 

 life it can bury itself in a few minutes. 



Observations of The Badger spends nearly all its life 

 Badgeis in in this burrow and goes a certain dis- 



the Wild State, tance away from it only at night. In 

 very solitary woods it may come out for a walk in 

 the afternoon in late summer, and I have met it 

 myself in the daytime, on the Isle of Rugen, but such 

 instances are the exception. Tschudi says : " A 

 sportsman who had the rare chance of observing a 

 Badger in the free state, gives an interesting account 

 of it. He repeatedly visited a Badger's burrow, situ- 

 ated on the edge of a precipice, and which was 

 plainly seen from the opposite side. When the wind 



THE TAYRA, This Bra/ilir 



tion depicts them appropriately in tlu 

 claws are webbed, but they climb well 



very quick and dexte 



imily. having the long, slender body 

 als, and prey upon Rabbits and othi 

 hunters. (Galictis barbara.) 



tribe. Theillustra- 

 , birds, fish, etc. The 



Home and With the exception of Sardinia and 

 Haunts northern Scandinavia, the Badger is 



of Badgers, found all over Europe ; it inhabits Asia 

 from Syria through Georgia and Persia to Japan, and 

 Siberia as far as the Lena. It leads a solitary life in 

 burrows, which it digs out with its strong, curved 

 claws on the sunny side of hills, provides with from 

 four to eight outlets, and furnishes most comfortably. 

 The round chamber at the bottom, which may be 

 approached through several conduits, is so large that 

 rt can hold a soft, large heap of moss, the animal 

 and its young. Few of the conduits are regularly- 

 used, most of them serving only as means of escape 

 in danger, or as ventilators. Scrupulous cleanliness 

 is observed throughout, in great contrast to most 

 similar subterranean habitations of other animals. 

 The site selected by the hermit is usually a wood 

 near a meadow, or a meadow on a hill, but always a 

 quiet, solitary spot. The animal is fond of a com- 

 fortable, contemplative mode of life, and likes to 



was favorable, the hunter softly approached the 

 object and soon saw an old Badger, sitting there 

 sulking and lost in its own tiresome thoughts, but 

 seemingly enjoying the warm sunshine. This was 

 no accident, for he often saw it again on bright days, 

 basking in the sun's rays. It spent its time in com- 

 fortably doing nothing. Either it sat still, gravely 

 looking around, or rocked to and fro upon its fore- 

 legs like a Bear. This comfortable quietude was 

 sometimes interrupted by sanguinary parasites, which 

 it destroyed on the spot with great expedition, after 

 which it would again bask in the sunshine, alternately 

 exposing its broad back or well-nourished stomach 

 to the warming rays of the sun." 



During the breeding season the Badger lives with 

 its mate ; the rest of the year it lives alone, holding 

 friendly relations with no other animal. The Fox 

 sometimes forces its society upon it in old and wide- 

 extended burrows, but even then the animals care 

 little for each other, the Fox inhabiting the upper 



