580 HISTORY OF PASADENA. 



house in the heart of the city. They do no harm (if not disturbed) and 

 undoubtedly drive out the rats and mice. Many farmers in the valley keep 

 them in their barns for this purpose. 



Badger. — In strolling over the country one occasionally comes upon 

 this curious flat animal, strongly marked with black and white. It is so 

 very flat that it is easily overlooked, and might readily be taken for a rock. 

 The American badger {Taxidea Americana) has a wide range, all over the 

 middle and northern portion of the continent, and is particularly common 

 here. It is terrestial and fassorial in its habits, a clumsy creature, with an 

 enormous development of claws, enabling it to dig and burrow at an aston- 

 ishing rate. The badger lives on small animals of various kinds, but is not 

 averse to varying its diet when the former are scarce. It devours every- 

 thing, from a wasp's nest to a snake, when pressed. The nest is the bur- 

 row, where from four to six young are brought out in the spring. The 

 badger has no enemies here except man, and as there is little or no demand 

 for their skins, they are increasing rapidly. One of the oldest sports in 

 Europe is badger baiting, the animal making a fierce fight. The Pasadena 

 animal when cornered will make a good fight, and easily escape from an un- 

 armed man. 



Weasel. — Often in riding or walking along in the low brush I have 

 startled a long, slender, snake-like little creature, which darts away with re" 

 markable velocity, filling the air with a pungent odor, disagreeable to the 

 dogs. It is the weasel {Putorius), a reddish chestnut brown above, and 

 lighter beneath. It preys upon small animals of various kinds, and is very 

 pugnacious. Hawks sometimes pounce down upon it, realizing too late 

 their mistake, the weasel fastening its sharp teeth in the throat, and finally 

 becoming the victor though carried a long distance from home. The weasel 

 burrows, forming a small inconspicuous hole. The ferret belongs to this 

 group, and a number have been introduced on the San Rafael ranch to drive 

 out the squirrels. Two, possibly three, species of weasels are found in this 

 vicinity. 



Note. — These weasels are called Micstela by our Spanish-speaking citi- 

 zens. Mr. Arturo Bandini relates that in July, 1889, he witnessed in Wil- 

 son canyon a fight between a weasel and a red racer. The weasel had 

 seized the snake by the back of its neck, so that it could not bite him, and 

 held his grip in spite of the snake's frantic endeavors to whip, or whisk or 

 shake him off. Finally, it coiled itself around and around the weasel's 

 body, and tried to squeeze it to death ; meanwhile he could hear the gritting 

 noise of the weasel's teeth in action, then presently there was a sort of 

 click or snapping noise, and the snake, making one convulsive flop, fell 

 over limp and dead. The weasel had gnawed away till he had completely 

 bitten through and severed its backbone at the neck. — Ed. 



Mountain Eion. — One of the finest animals, as regards general appear- 

 ance and bearing, found in this vicinity, is the mountain lion. Its wide 

 geographical range lends it an additional interest, it being found from the 

 Straits of Magellan to Canada, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific on both 

 continents. In the eastern states, especially New York, it is the panther — 

 the old Adirondack guides in telling me stories of its prowess, calling it the 

 "painter." In New England it is the catamount; in Florida, the cougar ; 



