60 GUN, RIFLE, AND HOUND, 



hillsides will ere long reveal the hole, generally situated 

 under a rock or tree-root, and plainly marked on the 

 outside by great masses of recently excavated earth. 

 We must take our chance of its being occupied, for 

 to put a dog in might possibly cause a migration. If 

 there are, however, several distinct burrows, all but 

 the freshest may be disturbed with a dog, as this will 

 increase the chance of our selected earth being in- 

 habited later on. If the excavations are fairly fresh, 

 or wet or snowy weather enables one to see the marks 

 of quaint-looking plantigrade feet and long claws, we 

 may assume that the badger is at home. 



The next step is to go away and wait for a fine 

 night with an early moon. We need not be on the 

 spot till nightfall, and must then take post, down wind, 

 for no animal has a keener sense of smell than a 

 badger. Lying down on a rock or hillock will do, 

 but a seat on the limb of a tree some little way from 

 the ground is best of all. With luck we shall not 

 have very long to wait till a curious gray and white 

 striped head appears at the mouth of the hole, and 

 sharply-pricked ears and sniffing nostrils inquire if 

 all is safe. Then the curious old-world form emerges. 

 The back is covered with that long gray hair, which 

 is best known to the public from its appearance in 

 shaving brushes, but the legs and abdomen are 

 black-brown. The body slopes upwards from nose 

 to quarters, which themselves end in a ridiculous little 

 tail, like everything else about it entirely dispro- 

 portionate to the rest of the animal. The first badger 

 will probably be followed by two or three more, for 



