678 



THE NATURE BOOK 



blocked the hole. Jemima promptly 

 takes possession. Sally gives two power- 

 ful scrapes, and, heaving her bodily out 

 of it, takes her place. Jemima gains her 

 feet again and promptly returns the 

 compliment. The air is thick wdth 

 Badgers. Presently, however, they realise 

 that it is only me, and venture out 

 together side by side. This time I step 

 between them. Sally goes right, Jemima 

 left, both hug the wall, and, as neither will 

 give way, collide on meeting. One or the 

 other is cannoned outwards. Recovering, 

 she takes her place in rear. So does their 

 going revert to decency and due order. 



This tendency to mimicry is a remark- 

 able phenomenon in animals who, 

 though unquestionably social in character, 

 are not normally gregarious. Nor is the 

 mimicry confined to movement. I have 

 often found Sally and Jemima sleeping 

 in a close embrace, stomachs upward, tails 

 parallel, feet upturned symmetrically. 



The Badger, whether we consider his 



is " the oldest known species of mammal 

 now living on the face of the earth." 



Though placed originally by Linnaeus 

 among the Bears, the Badger is considered 

 by modern systematists to be closely 

 allied to the Weasels. If one was entitled 

 to judge by character and external 

 features, there would certainly be much 

 evidence in favour of the older classifica- 

 tion. In studying the Badger one misses 

 the long flexible neck, the alert sparkling 

 eye, the truculence of expression, and 

 the quickness of movement which char- 

 acterise the Weasel tribe ; one is im- 

 pressed rather by the bumping, criss-cross 

 gait, the broad, shaggy back, the wedge- 

 shaped head, and the apologetic tail. 



These are ursine qualities. Bearish, too, 

 are his modes of feeding — " gug and gumble 

 and slobber " — his abandoned poses in 

 sleep, his taste for sweets and stickiness, 

 his slowness to wrath, his dogged courage, 

 and his deep-toned warning growl. 



It is possible that the ancestors of 



-I SIDE VIEW OF A BADGER'S SKULL. B UPPER SURFACE OF SAME. 



In --1 some of the teeth in the upper-jaw are missin;^. The small size of the premolar immediately behind the large 

 canine in the under-iaw should he noticed. The .liape of the jaws is the widest possible, the mandibles (under- 

 jaw) having been allowed to hanS; free from their hiniied articulation (sff p. 679). 



In B the enormous development of the central bony ridSe. two and a half inches lonM in this case, and at its hinder 

 end about a quarter of an inch high, and a quarter of an inch thick, suggests not only the solidity and strength 

 of the attached head muscles, but also from a defensive standpoint ttie origin of the morion. 



ancient lineage, his strength of character, 

 or his strength of frame, whether we con- 

 cern ourselves with the actualities of his 

 structure, or the mysteries of his existence, 

 is the most interesting animal in the coun- 

 try. So far as lineage is concerned, it will 

 be sufficient for our present purpose to re- 

 call the opinion of Owen tliat the Badger 



our modern European animals iiad of 

 necessity to adapt themselves to greater 

 variations of seasonal temperature than 

 those which obtain at the present day. 

 Tliat a well-marked annual cycle still 

 occurs in the case of the Badger is un- 

 questionable. Midsummer finds him in 

 the plenitude oi his powers, a strong. 



