WENUSK THE BADGER 235 



III 

 Wenusk the Badger 



Badger, too, is one of the furs taken by the trap 

 per on idle days. East of St. Paul and Winnipeg, the 

 fur is comparatively unknown, or if known, so badly 

 prepared that it is scarcely recognisable for badger. 

 This is probably owing to differences in climate. Badger 

 in its perfect state is a long soft fur, resembling wood 

 marten, with deep overhairs almost the length of 

 one s hand and as dark as marten, with underhairs as 

 thick and soft and yielding as swan s-down, shading 

 in colour from fawn to grayish white. East of the 

 Mississippi, there is too much damp in the atmosphere 

 for such a long soft fur. Consequently specimens of 

 badger seen in the East must either be sheared of the 

 long overhairs or left to mat and tangle on the first 

 rainy day. In New York, Quebec, Montreal, and 

 Toronto places where the finest furs should be on 

 sale if anywhere I have again and again asked for 

 badger, only to be shown a dull matted short fawnish 

 fur not much superior to cheap dyed furs. It is not 

 surprising there is no demand for such a fur and East 

 ern dealers have stopped ordering it. In the North- 

 West the most common mist during the winter is a 

 frost mist that is more a snow than a rain, so there is 

 little injury to furs from moisture. Here the badger is 

 prime, long, thick, and silky, almost as attractive as 

 ermine if only it were enhanced by as high a price. 

 Whether badger will ever grow in favour like musk-rat 

 or coon, and play an important part in the returns of 

 the fur exporters, is doubtful. The world takes its 

 fashions from European capitals; and European capi- 



