154 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP, v 



fully carries the pits to a knothole in the floor of 

 the porch and drops them through it to the ground. 



" Every morning when he gets up he carries his 

 bed out of his little house, shakes it thoroughly, 

 and throws it over the boards that fence him in. 

 At night he always carries it back, but through 

 the day it gets thoroughly aired. 



" He will beg and scold vociferously if he is not 

 given his daily bath. This he takes in a large 

 dripping-pan, washing first his face and paws, 

 then getting in, first on his belly, then turning on 

 his back. When a mere baby, he fell into a tub of 

 water, which gave him such a scare that any large 

 amount of water will still frighten him ; but he 

 enjoys his shallow pan immensely." 



NOTE. The vast and destructive spread of prairie dogs 

 on the Plains, especially from Texas southwestward, which in 

 some places has almost prevented agriculture, and in others 

 is greatly damaging the cattle ranges, have made the squirrel- 

 hunting badger one of the most useful animals of the region, 

 and one which should be zealously protected and encouraged 

 by both farmers and ranchmen. In western Texas, where the 

 plague is the worst, the badger is the most persistent and ef- 

 fective foe of the prairie dogs and gophers, easily digging them 

 out of their deepest burrows, and subsisting almost wholly 

 upon their flesh. As each badger may be expected to destroy 

 a family of one or the other of these pests every day, its ser- 

 vices are well worth having, and to kill one for the few cents 

 its hide is worth, or, worse, just for fun, is wasteful and foolish. 



