2io A Trip on the Prairie. 



But a good shot with the rifle can kill any number by 

 lying down quietly and waiting a few minutes until the 

 dogs get a little distance from the mouths of their homes. 



Badgers are more commonly found round prairie-dog 

 towns than anywhere else ; and they get their chief food 

 by digging up the prairie-dogs and gophers with their 

 strong forearms and long, stout claws. They are not of- 

 ten found wandering away from their homes in the day- 

 time, but if so caught are easily run down and killed. A 

 badger is a most desperate fighter, and an overmatch for a 

 coyote, his hide being very thick and his form so squat 

 and strong that it is hard to break his back or legs, while 

 his sharp teeth grip like a steel trap. A very few seconds 

 allow him to dig a hole in the ground, into which he can 

 back all except his head ; and when placed thus, with his 

 rear and flanks protected, he can beat off a dog many 

 times his own size. A young badger one night came up 

 round the ranch-house, and began gnawing at some bones 

 that had been left near the door. Hearing the noise one 

 of my men took a lantern and went outside. The glare 

 of the light seemed to make the badger stupid, for after 

 looking at the lantern a few moments, it coolly turned and 

 went on eating the scraps of flesh on the bones, and was 

 knocked on the head without attempting to escape. 



To come back to my trip. Early in the morning I 

 was awakened by the shrill yelping of the prairie-dogs 

 whose town was near me. The sun had not yet risen, and 

 the air had the peculiar chill it always takes on toward 

 morning, while little wreaths of light mist rose from the 

 pools. Getting up and loosing Manitou to let him feed 



