280 BAD 



a mound of earth in the centre. True to their habit 

 of digging on sloping banks where there are stones to 

 support their entrance, they first tried the walls all 

 round, to find a place where they could dig a habita- 

 tion. They then chose an opening between two stones, 

 which was a little elevated above the ground, and had 

 the upper stone projecting over it. In nature, the 

 entrance to the badger's burrow is often under a pro- 

 jecting stone, which partially conceals it, and protects 

 it from the rain. They had some difficulty in reach- 

 ing this place, as it required nearly the whole length 

 of their bodies, standing on the hind feet, and the 

 fore feet had, in consequence, little influence upon 

 the plaster and stones. They tried a resource, how- 

 ever : the male lay down close by the bottom of the 

 wall, and the female, standing on him, could reach 

 the desired place with more effect. All would not 

 do ; so they abandoned that place, and tried the 

 result at others, always selecting a place under a pro- 

 jecting stone. In these attempts, which, though they 

 all proved unsuccessful, were carried on with great 

 energy and perseverance, the female was the most 

 active, selecting the places, and being the principal 

 operator. 



After many fruitless attempts, they abandoned the 

 walls, and betook themselves to the mound of earth, 

 the female, as in other cases, leading the way. Even 

 here they did not at once begin to form the burrow, 

 but ran trial lines or trenches over a considerable 

 part of the surface, till they came to a place which 

 suited them, and there they began their regular opera- 

 tions. In the first loosening of the earth they used 

 the nose ; then they dug deeper with the fore paws, 

 flinging the earth backwards between the hind ones, 

 and soon using these to remove it still farther to the 

 rear. When the heap behind them accumulated, 

 they retreated backwards upon it, and, using all the 

 paws, gradually removed it from the hole. Some- 

 times one of them would lie down to rest by the side 

 of the other at work, and remain, though half buried 

 in the earth, and apparently giving considerable in- 

 terruption to its fellow. The male was most prone 

 to indulge in these lazy fits, while the female was by 

 far the most industrious in the labour. 



Such is probably the best account we have of the 

 cunning operations of the badgers, though not ex- 

 actly what the animals would do in a state of nature, 

 as they were limited to two kinds of substance, the 

 stone wall and the mound of earth. From the re- 

 peated attempts they made to burrow in the wall, at 

 some elevation above the ground, and under stones 

 which projected, we are led to the kind of place 

 which they would naturally prefer. These are stony 

 banks, where the earth is loose and easily excavated, 

 and the water does not stagnate. 



The case of the badgers above noticed is a good 

 instance of the working of instinct as different from 

 reason. These young animals could have had no 

 experience in burrowing when they were first placed 

 in the court, and they made their burrow there in the 

 ground. But when they were placed in the enclo- 

 sure, they did not act upon their experience, and 

 again dig in the ground ; they attempted to burrow 

 in the walls. Here, therefore, we have a principle, 

 which can have no connection with reason, choice, 

 volition, or experience which can in no way arise 

 from, or be directed by, knowledge acquired or 

 acquirable by the animal ; and yet this principle leads 

 them to act in direct opposition to their former expe- 



GER. 



rience ; and the repeated attempts to burrow in the 

 wall, notwithstanding the experience of failures, 

 shows the strength of the principle. But the dispo- 

 sition to burrow, to find or form a subterraneous 

 abode, which is evidently as little connected with 

 reason or volition as the other, is a stronger principle 

 than that which disposes them to burrow in a parti- 

 cular place ; so it triumphs, and they burrow in the 

 mound of earth. The greater tendency to burrow 

 shown by the female also points out how, Avithout 

 plan or contrivance of any kind, all the tendencies of 

 an animal are linked together. The male requires 

 the burrow only as a place of shelter during the day 

 and the winter ; the female requires the additional 

 accommodation of a nursery for her young. There- 

 fore, she is in part influenced by her natural instinct, 

 and works in accordance with that before she is of 

 age to become a mother ; while the male, into whose 

 composition no such instinct enters, takes the work 

 more easily. We can trace something analogous in 

 the young females of many animals, and it is a curious 

 point in the philosophy of that very interesting, but 

 almost inexplicable subject, instinct. See INSTINCT, 

 for some general remarks. 



A distinction between " dog-badgers" and " hog- 

 badgers" is sometimes made by the country people; 

 but it appears to be a distinction without any differ- 

 ence. The dog-badger is said to prefer soils which 

 are light and sandy ; the hog-badger those which are 

 more rich and loamy ; and the latter is said to be the 

 more clumsy animal of the two. With the exception 

 of the preference (for animals have no rational or vo- 

 luntary preference, though it is not easy to speak 

 about their habits without using the term), these 

 allegations may be true ; and yet so far from there 

 being any difference of species, or even variety, the 

 dog-badger and hog-badger may both belong to the 

 same litter, or the same individual may be a dog- 

 badger one year and a hog-badger the next. 



It has been mentioned how much the badger is 

 under the controul of the atmosphere; and the state 

 of the atmosphere is so much influenced by the cha- 

 racter of the soil, that a dry sandy tract and a moist 

 loamy one, which lie within a mile or two of each 

 other, may have as much difference of temperature as 

 if they differed a degree in latitude. Colour, size, 

 condition, and along with that shape, may vary con- 

 siderably in different countries, or in different parts 

 of the same country ; and there is not the least 

 ground for supposing that all the badgers of the 

 eastern continent, from the British islands to China, 

 are of the very same species. 



In no country are they found at a great height 

 above the level of the sea, or in places which are sub- 

 ject to much rain or to burning drought, though from 

 the situations in which they live, and the effect of 

 cold upon them, the dry is more congenial to their 

 habits than the over-moist. When in proper season, 

 the flesh of the badger is wholesome and palatable 

 food ; as such, it is much used in China, where the 

 animals are encouraged for the table ; but, from the 

 foetid odour, and some other causes, it is not much 

 used in Europe. The odour belongs to its- peculiar 

 apparatus only, and that can easily be removed with- 

 out giving the least taint to the flesh of the animal. 

 Both skin and body could thus be turned to as valu- 

 able account as those of any of the animals which are 

 called game. The hind quarters, when properly 

 cured, make excellent hams. In Britain, however, 



