BADGER 93 



• 



ranging species like the Gambel White-footed Mouse and Red-shafted 

 Flicker. Its distribution is controlled by the presence or absence of flat 

 clear areas of soil, rather than by temperature or any of the other factors 

 which limit the ranges of most animals. Thus, on the uncultivated level 

 lands of the San Joaquin Valley, the badger is, or was originally, common ; 

 in the foothill districts where there are but few meadows or other level 

 open spaces, it is scarce or wanting ; in the main forest belt it is altogether 

 absent; while on the high meadows near the crest of the Sierras and on 

 the floor of the Great Basin, east of the mountains, it is again to be found 

 in numbers. 



In settled portions of the San Joaquin Valley the badger has been 

 reduced or exterminated by man, chiefly because the large holes (pi. 24rt) 

 which it digs in the ground are a menace to horsemen riding over the 

 country. On the whole, however, the badger is a beneficial species, for its 

 habitual food consists of rodents, like the ground squirrels and pocket 

 gophers, most of which happen to be harmful to agriculture. In the high 

 Sierras, where the relation between rodents and carnivores is still almost 

 in its original condition, the badger is a relatively common animal. On 

 Tuolumne Meadows in the summer of 1915 it was judged to be the most 

 abundant carnivore present, with one exception, the Mountain Weasel. 



The badger's whole being is organized for digging. The body, especially 

 the trunk region, is thickset and muscular (pi. 24&). The legs are stout 

 and short so that they can get an effective purchase. Both pairs of feet 

 are disproportionately large, as compared, for example, with those of a 

 Sierra Marmot. The claws on all the feet are large, those of the forefeet 

 being especially long and heavy. 



In addition, the badger is curiously flattened horizontally in the general 

 configuration of its head and body; this 'pancake' effect is emphasized 

 by the greater length of the overhairs along the sides of the body. The 

 ears are short (pi. 24c), the eyes rather small, and the head is joined 

 directly onto the body, with no definite neck region. 



When hunting, the badger specializes in a method rarely used by any 

 of the other carnivores of the region. The other predators hunt chiefly 

 by stealth ; the badger uses its prodigious strength and special equipment 

 for the purpose and digs its victims out of their retreats. Nature has 

 provided the badger with some means for locating accurately the under- 

 ground nests of pocket gophers, ground squirrels, and rabbits. Whether 

 smell or hearing or both function in this, we do not know. But once an 

 occupied burrow is located, the badger quickly digs out and feasts upon the 

 luckless inhabitants. 



During the summer of 1915, the work of the California Badger was 

 much in evidence on Tuolumne Meadows and the floor of Lyell Cafion. 



