CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 5. CARNIVORA. 



293 



not, as far as I know, been defined by any traveler. The sandy prairies in the neighborhood of 

 Carlton House, on the banks of the Saskatchewan, and also on the Red River that flows into 

 Lake Winnipeg, are perforated by innumerable badger-holes, wbich are a great annoyance to horse- 

 men, particularly when the ground is covered with snow. These holes are partly dug by the 

 badgers for habitations, but the greater number of them are merely enlargements of the burrows 

 of the Acetomys Hoodli and Richardsonii, which the badgers dig up and prey upon. While the 

 ground is covered with snow, the badger rarely or never conies from its hole ; and I suppose 

 that in that climate it passes the winter, from the beginning of November till April, in a torpid 

 state. Indeed, as it obtains the small animals upon which it feeds by surprising them in their 

 burrows, it has little chance of digging them out at a time when the ground is frozen into a 

 solid rock. Like the bears, the badgers do not lose much flesh during their long hibernation, 

 for on coming abroad in the spring they are observed to be very fat. As they pair, however, at 

 that season, they soon become lean. The badger is a slow and timid animal, taking to the first 

 earth it meets with when pursued ; and as it makes its way through the sandy soil with the 

 rajidity of a mole, it soon places itself out of the reach of danger. The strength of its fore- 

 feet and claws is so great, that one which had insinuated only its head and shoulders into a hole, 

 resisted the utmost efforts of two stout young men, who endeavored to draw it out by the hind- 

 legs and tail, until one of them fired the contents of his fowling-piece into its body. Early in 

 the spring, however, when they first begin to stir abroad, they may be easily caught by pouring 

 water into their holes ; for the ground being frozen at that period, the water does not escape 

 through the sand, but soon fills the hole, and its tenant is obliged to come out. 



" The American badger appears to be a more carnivorous animal than the European one. A 

 female which I killed had a small marmot, nearly entire, together with some field-mice, in its 

 stomach. It had also been eating some vegetable matters." 



As to the southern limit of the geographical range of the species, at least in one direction, it 

 is known to inhabit Mexico, as appears from the detailed and correct descriptions of Fernandez, 

 who calls it by the native name of Hacoyotl or Coyotlhumuli ; and a very fine skin was some 

 time ago sent from California to the Zoological Society of London. 



THE INDIAN BADGER. 



The Indian Badger, or Sand-Bear, called Bhalloo-Soor, or Bear-Pig, by the Hindoos, the 



l ircitony.v collaris of Cuvier, is about the size of the common badger, but stands higher upon its 



gs, and is at once distinguished by its attenuated muzzle ending in a truncated snout, like that 



•f the common hog, and by its small and nearly naked tail. The whole height of this animal is 



bout twenty inches, and the length of its tail nine inches. It has a body and limbs resembling 



