130 



The Living Animals of the World 



Photo liy Scholastic Photo. Co.] iParson's Green, 



EUROPEAN BADGER. 



Badgers can be readily kept in confinement, and are not difficult to tame 

 thoroughly. 



bodies and short tails. They are tree- 

 climbers, and as omnivorous as the 

 badger itself. The CAPE ZORILLA, with 

 another species found in Egypt, is 

 more nearly allied to the polecats, but 

 is striped like a skunk. 



The EUROPEAN BADGER is still fairly 

 numerous. There is not a county in 

 England where it is not found. A 

 large colony has been established in 

 Epping Poorest, some fifty yards square 

 of hillside being honeycombed with 

 badger-earths. The European badger 

 is found all over temperate Northern 

 Europe and Asia ; but being shy, wary, 

 and mainly nocturnal, is seldom seen. 

 At night it wanders about, and in 

 August gets into the corn-fields, 

 whence it is chased and caught by 

 dogs. A Somersetshire farmer had a 

 pointer and sheep-dog which were 

 adepts at this night-catching of badgers. They would accompany their master along the roads, 

 and the pointer instantly winded any badger which had crossed. Both dogs then bounded 

 off, and soon their loud barking showed that they had found and "held up" the badger. 

 The dogs' owner then came up, picked the badger up by its tail, and dropped it in a 

 sack. The badger's " earth " is wonderfully deep and winding ; in it the badger sleeps 

 during the winter, and gives birth to its young, three or four of which are produced at a 

 time. The end of March is the period of birth, but the cubs do not come out until June. 

 In October they are full-grown. The badger carries in a great quantity of fern and grass as 

 a bed for its cubs. Mr. Trevor-Battye writes : " I had a pair which were probably about 

 six weeks old. They were called Grripper and Nancy. They would rest on my lap when 

 feeding, and sit up and beg like dogs. Their hearing and power of scent were remarkable. 

 The badgers were in a closed yard ; but if any of the dogs came near, even following 

 a path which ran at a distance of six or seven yards, they would instantly jump off my lap 

 and disappear into a corner. The animals could walk and trot backwards with the 

 greatest ease." I have never seen this noticed elsewhere, yet it is worth mentioning, because 

 it is characteristic of the Weasel Family, not being shared, to my knowledge, by any other 

 mammal not, for instance, by the Bears. 



Mr. A. E. Pease says of the badger: "It is easily domesticated, and if brought up by 

 hand is found an interesting and charming companion. I had at one time two that I could 

 do anything with, and which followed me so closely that they would bump against my boots 

 each step I took, and come and snuggle in under my coat when I sat down.'* 



THE EATELS. 



As the mink is adapted for an aquatic diet, so the EATELS, a link between the Weasels 

 and the Badgers, seem to have been specialised to live upon insects and honey as well as flesh. 

 They are quaint creatures, with rounded iron-grey backs, and black bellies, noses, and feet. The 

 African kind is found in Cape Colony and East Africa, and is believed to live largely on honey 

 and bee-brood. The habits of the ratel are almost identical with those of the badger, except 

 that it is less shy and very restless. A nearly similar species of ratel is found in Southern 

 Asia from the Caspian to India. 



The ratels are strictly nocturnal, and make their lair by day in hollow trees, though they 



