478 The Outline of Science 



thick-set, round-backed, rather bear-like carnivore, somewhat over 

 two feet in length, with an additional seven inches of tail. It has 

 a long muzzle, well suited for its restlessly inquisitive poking into 

 holes and corners; the short rounded ears are not in the way in 

 the brushwood ; there are bright bluish-black eyes ; there is below 

 the tail an odoriferous gland with a disagreeable smell. The 

 Badger stands alone among British mammals in having the under 

 parts darker than the upper, for the under surface is black while 

 the upper surface is tawny, overlain with grey, darkening here 

 and there. The head is practically white, divided by a broad black 

 band beginning between the nose and the eye and extending back 

 to the ear. In short, the colouring is rather conspicuous, recalling 

 the American Skunk. But the Badger is elusive, and though it 

 has few enemies it will work its way in the dusk down a dry ditch 

 or along the side of a hedgerow rather than across the open. The 

 heavy body does not seem to be lifted much off the ground, the 

 snout is often held very low, the soles of the feet are entirely on 

 the ground in true plantigrade fashion. Yet the badger's move- 

 ments have an easy swing, and the creature does not know what 

 it is to be tired. 



When we ask how the Badger manages to survive in a much 

 cultivated and far from friendly country, part of the answer is in 

 the words nocturnal and self-effacing, and, possibly, evil-smelling: 

 We must add, however, that the Badger has strong positive quali- 

 ties. It is very muscular ; it has a strong heart and a good wind ; 

 the grip of the lower jaw is unsurpassed in tenacity; the thick 

 coat helps the badger to withstand the cold of winter; it stores a 

 good deal of fat; it is endowed with keen senses, shrewd intel- 

 ligence, and a capacity for taking things easily without fuss or 

 worry. And yet this is not all. It has an extraordinary catho- 

 licity of appetite, which always makes for survival. If one kind 

 of food fails, it can fall back on something else roots and fruits, 

 nuts and truffles, worms and grubs, frogs and snakes, eggs and 

 young rabbits, the grubs from the wasps' nest (for the badger is 



