Ground Vermin Habits of the Badger. 339 



as to impede the further progress of the operation, and is 

 accordingly flung further back until a portion of the length 

 of the tunnel is formed, it would soon choke up the 

 entrance ; the badger therefore sets its stern against the 

 heap of accumulated loose soil, and by pushing in a 

 retrograde direction removes the whole obstruction in very 

 few seconds to the outside, when it is flung in all directions 

 as far away from the entrance to the holt as possible. 

 Having executed this to its satisfaction, the badger resumes 

 its labours in the tunnel now forming. The burrow, when 

 complete, is a rather extensive one, and will, in some 

 cases, have three or four exits. At the far end is a rather 

 larger space formed, to which dry leaves, grass which has 

 become hay, ferns, and similar material for the bed or nest 

 are conveyed. The badger, besides being solitary, is, in 

 its natural habits, one of the cleanest of animals ; it never 

 allows any remnants of food to lie about, these being/r0 tern. 

 deposited in a certain corner, to be eventually removed ; 

 nor on no account does it suffer anything of an offensive 

 nature to be near its dwelling, and should by chance any 

 other animal pollute the earth, its burrow will probably be 

 deserted and a new one excavated. 



To this burrow the female resorts at breeding time to 

 deposit her young and to rear them. They are three, 

 four, or five, are brought forth in early spring, and are 

 carefully suckled for five or six weeks, after which they are 

 gradually weaned off and instructed how to provide for them- 

 selves. During all this time the male badger ceases to 

 frequent the burrow where its progeny are being reared. 

 For food the female provides herself with a quantity of 



