BADGE R. 



energetic at any season, though it can be momen- 

 tarily roused to powerful efforts. 



Badgers are, indeed, very susceptible of changes 

 of temperature, fonder of heat and more impatient of 

 cold than almost any other animals that inhabit such 

 cold latitudes. When in a state of confinement, in 

 which, if taken young, they are easily domesticated, 

 and gentle, and even playful in their manners, they 

 are, notwithstanding the thickness and closeness of 

 their covering, fond of basking near the fire, and 

 often loiter so near it that they burn patches in 

 their fur, as is the case with sickly cats, and with 

 the dogs of temperate climates when carried to the 

 polar regions. 



And it would really seem, that, contrary to what 

 is the case with most animals, they have the colour- 

 ing of their coats so arranged as to render them 

 susceptible to the cold rather than proof against it. 

 Most other animals w r hich live in wild nature in the 

 same latitudes, have the under part of their bodies 

 (the neck and the thorax at least, and the abdomen 

 as far as the region of the principal stomach) white, 

 or light-coloured, especially in the winter. But in 

 the badger those parts are not merely darker than 

 the upper part of the body, they are quite black, and 

 the covering upon them is neither so thick nor so 

 good a preservative from cold, independently of its 

 colour. The upper part consists of two kinds of 

 hairs, woolly ones and silky ones, which have a shin- 

 ing or glistening lustre. These last are, from their 

 structure, and also from the nature of their surface, 

 worse conductors of heat than the others, and they are 

 wanting on the under parts where the colour is black. 



It may be as well here to mention the usual distri- 

 bution of the colours, though it must be borne in mind 

 that these colours are subject to considerable variations 

 in different individuals, from the darkest shade, which 

 is the prevailing appearance, up to almost complete 

 albinoism, in which the parts which are usually grey 

 are white, or nearly so, and those which are usually 

 black are reddish brown. Usually, the upper part is 

 dull grey, appearing as if the animal were in part 

 soiled, either by rolling a white body in soot, or a 

 black one in whiting. The colour of this grey por- 

 tion is made up of particoloured hairs. The woolly 

 ones are white, with yellowish points ; and the silky 

 white have a black portion at the middle. This mixed 

 colour becomes lighter toward the flanks, and passes 

 into a dull reddish white on the posterior part of the 

 abdomen. The remainder of the under part, includ- 

 ing the greater portion of the abdomen and the legs, 

 is very brown or black. On each side of the head 

 there is a black streak, beginning on the lip, and pro- 

 ceeding across the eye to the ear, which is black, 

 with a white border on the upper part. The remainder 

 of the head is a dull reddish white, which is met by 

 the black on the under part, about the middle of the 

 lower jaw. In addition to these markings of colour, 

 it may be mentioned, that the feet of the badger are 

 very amply supplied with pads or tubercles, so that 

 it can pass over hard or rough surfaces securely, and 

 without injury. One of these is at the end of each 

 toe ; three others, arranged like a trefoil, occupy the 

 sole of the foot, which have an additional one on the 

 rear of the fore foot, and two on the hind. As the 

 badger passes the inclement season in retirement and 

 shelter, its colours do not undergo those seasonal 

 changes which take place in animals that are exposed 

 to the weather. 



That the colours of the badger should be th.) re- 

 verse of those of most animals, is not a little singular. 

 The upper part is in the most effectual manner pro- 

 tected from the cold. The hair is close, and the 

 greater part of it is white. But when we come to the 

 under side of the animal, to the portion which covers 

 the vital parts, we find the colour black, which is the 

 tint most susceptible to changes of temperature. 

 Whether, when in its burrow, or when abroad in 

 search of its food, we find the back of the badger 

 almost as well secured against atmospheric influence 

 or changes, as those animals which acquire winter 

 coats ; but instead of this defence being extended to 

 the vital parts, they are exposed more so than the 

 corresponding parts of any other wild animal of the 

 same latitudes. The badger must, therefore, have its 

 vital functions more under the control of the atmo- 

 sphere than any other animal, at least any other 

 of the mammalia. It must be much more affected ia 

 this manner than if the whole had been of the same 

 dark tint, as the non-conducting covering of the upper 

 part necessarily throws the atmospheric action upon, 

 the under, much in the same manner as if it were 

 well clothed everywhere else and naked there. The 

 organs of respiration, circulation, and the chief ones 

 of digestion, are all under the dark covering, and must 

 be all regulated by the weather, increasing in activity 

 as that is warmer, and diminishing as it is colder. To 

 pass along the dry earth on a hot summer's day would, 

 therefore, throw the badger into a state of fever ; 

 and exposure to the frozen earth, and the cold air of 

 winter, would soon reduce it below the temperature 

 of vitality. Thus it is. from its very structure, con- 

 strained to keep its burrow in the heat of the day, and 

 also during the night, after the temperature has sunk 

 below a certain degree. But still, as this is the habit 

 of the badger, and as its food is understood to vary 

 with the seasons, to be abundant in the heat of the 

 year, and to fail in the winter, anomalous as it may 

 at first sight appear to be, it is as perfect an instance 

 of adaptation as any other creature. As it is never 

 exposed to a high temperature, and takes no exercise 

 but what is absolutely necessary in the finding of its 

 food, the action of its system must, at all times, be 

 slow, and the quantity of food which it requires mode- 

 rate. When temporary colds set in, its action must, 

 from its perfect obedience to the temperature, dimi- 

 nish, and so must its desire for food. The badger, in 

 its ready yielding to the weather, is therefore as com- 

 fortable, and in as good condition at all times, as those 

 more energetic animals which are fitted for contend- 

 ing with the seasons braving both the summer's heat- 

 and the winter's cold. 



The retired habits of the badger cause little to be 

 known of it in a state of nature, as it is seldom seen 

 unless when forced to quit its stronghold. la ordi- 

 nary confinement its habits are of course altered ; 

 but there is one case, reported by M. F. Cuvier, 

 which comes so near to a state of nature, that we shall 

 quote the substance of it : Two young badgers, a 

 male and a female, were taken out of the burrow of 

 their mother, and placed in a paved yard, which was 

 so fenced in that they could not escape,-and yet al- 

 lowed them considerable range. They unpaved a 

 portion of the yard, and dug a burrow, in which they 

 spent the day, and came out in the night only to cat 

 the food which was placed for them. After con- 

 tinuing a year in the court, they were put into a 

 small enclosure, walled round with stone, and having 



