86 CARNIVORES. 



the animal, when seized by almost any part, to turn and bite its aggressor ; and the 

 fur is long and loose. With the exception of a black stripe on each side, starting 

 between the nose and the eye and running backwards to include the ear (of which 

 the tip is white), the head of the badger is white. The lower jaw, throat, and all 

 the under-parts, as well as the limbs, are black ; while the upper-parts are reddish 

 grey, and the flanks and tail light grey. The length of a full-grown badger from 

 the snout to the root of the tail, will vary from about 25 to 29 inches, that of the 

 tail being about 7 \ inches ; and the weight has been estimated at from 25 to 30 Ibs. 

 . . The common badger or, as it used to be called in England, the 



brock, is distributed over the whole of Europe, with the exception 

 of the north of Scandinavia and the island of Sardinia ; and it is also widely spread 

 over Northern Asia, where it ranges in Siberia as far as the river Lena. It is 

 probably also this species which inhabits Syria; but it is at present uncertain 

 where the range of the common badger in Western Asia terminates, and where 

 that of the smaller and paler coloured Persian badger (M. canescens) of Eastern 

 Persia commences. In China and other parts of continental Asia the group is 

 represented by the white-tailed badger (M. leucurus) and the Chinese badger 

 (M. chinensis) ; while a fifth species (M. anacuma) inhabits Japan. 



On the continent, especially in many parts of Germany (where 



it is known as dachs), the badger is very common, and does much 

 damage to the vineyards. In the British Islands, as we may judge both from the 

 frequency with which its remains are met with in the cavern and other superficial 

 deposits, as well as from the number of places in England, such as Brockenhurst 

 and Brockley, which derive their names from this animal, the badger must once 

 have been very commonly distributed. At the present day, writes Mr. J. E. 

 Harting, " many people seem to be under the impression that the badger, if not 

 actually extinct in the British Islands, is at all events a very scarce animal. This 

 is far from being the case. In many parts of the country the badger is still not at 

 all uncommon, and in certain districts which might be named it is even on the 

 increase, owing to the protection afforded it. The reason for its supposed scarcity 

 arises from two causes, firstly, the nature of its haunts, which are generally in the 

 deep recesses of large woods, fox-covers, and quarries ; and, secondly, the nature of 

 its habits, which are shy and retiring, and chiefly nocturnal." 



The favourite haunts of the badger are the deepest and thickest woods, or 

 coppice-clad cliffs and quarries ; and in such situations it digs a large and roomy 

 burrow. Here it sleeps during the day, issuing forth at evening in search of food, 

 and sometimes joining with its fellows in this quest ; Mr. Harting having observed 

 three badgers together in Gloucestershire, while the late Mr. C. St. John on one 

 occasion saw no less than seven in company on the shore of Loch Ness. In the 

 colder portions of its habitat the badger hibernates during the winter, the length 

 of the hibernation depending upon the latitude and the degree of severity of the 

 season. In England the hibernation appears to be always interrupted. Mr. Ellis, 

 of Loughborough, who has a number of badgers on his estate, recently wrote that 

 he has known one of the burrows covered with snow for a fortnight or more, 

 during which time the animals remained below, and only ventured out when a thaw 

 came. In Sweden it is stated that badgers generally retire about the middle of 



