152 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



rowed and its numbers are decreased through the 

 encroachments and persecution of mankind. The 

 Indians kill it for food when they can, but few 

 white men have been able to stomach the flesh, 

 which is tainted to the fancy, if not actually to the 

 palate, with the musky odor that belongs to the 

 animal, and arises from the possession of anal 

 glands, similar to those that make the skunks and 

 many other mustelines odious to us ; but our Amer- 

 ican badger is far less offensive in this respect than 

 are the "stinking" species of the Old World. The 

 fur is prized by the Indians for various special pur- 

 poses, and enters largely into modern trade, being 

 well adapted and beautiful for robes, overcoats, 

 and the like. The animals, consequently, are 

 trapped and poisoned extensively for the sake of 

 their pelts ; while the farmers, with a sadly mis- 

 taken sense of propriety, poison and drown them 

 out as nuisances. I say mistaken, because the only 

 harm badgers do, is by digging here and there; 

 while they serve the farmer beneficently by killing 

 off the gophers, rabbits, and ground-squirrels, which, 

 unless their multiplication is restrained, may speed- 

 ily become a serious pest, as has been shown in 

 California and Kansas. Since badger-baiting has 

 gone out of fashion, and as the animal is not in 

 demand as a pet, efforts are rarely made to take 

 one alive by smoking it out as used to be done. 

 It is a waste of time to try to dig one out, for it can 

 go deeper and deeper as fast as you can follow it. 



