18 WOODLAND CREATURES 



somewhat less. Its short legs and long snout 

 rather suggest the bear, and the way it noses about 

 among the undergrowth is still more bearlike, 

 but this resemblance is merely superficial, for 

 its nearest relatives are the stoat, marten, polecat, 

 and otter, with which animals it is grouped in 

 the family Mustelida. It is certainly difficult to 

 realize, when one looks at a badger, that this 

 big heavy animal, some three feet long, with its 

 thickset, not to say clumsy, body, short tail, 

 hunched back, and long head carried low to the 

 ground, tiny eyes and little ears, is allied to the 

 nimble and quick-moving stoats ! In colour there 

 is still less resemblance, the badger being clad in 

 a long, thick, rough coat of grey fur, its legs and 

 stomach being black, its head striped with black 

 and white, and its tail white. A more start- 

 ling scheme of markings one could not meet 

 with. The black, white, and grey are as notice- 

 able as an advertisement on a hoarding, or the 

 conspicuous colours of a wasp that wishes 

 to remind all the world that it can sting. 

 Many creatures, especially insects, wear warning 

 colours, thereby letting their enemies know what 

 they are, and that it will be better to leave 

 them alone. Among mammals the skunk is the 

 best known example: it is most conspicuously 

 marked with black and white; it advertises "let 

 me alone" as plainly as possible; its black and 

 white uniform reminds other creatures of the 

 awful smell it can emit when interfered with, 

 and they let it pass by in peace. The badger, 



