164 THE BADGER. 



been some days ere the badger inside troubled 

 to unearth the entrances. In some cases he would 

 partially open the hole from within, scratching 

 away just enough earth to admit air, though not 

 sufficient to allow the passage of his body. This 

 was done a few hours after the holes were stopped, 

 and thus matters would remain, perhaps, for seven 

 or eight days, at the end of which the animal 

 would finally take the trouble to liberate himself. 



In soft, sandy ground a badger, when disturbed, 

 will sometimes bury himself where he stands, 

 sooner than take to his heels, going practically 

 straight down, like a mole ; indeed, his powers 

 of digging are almost proportionate to those of 

 the mole. For this reason it requires a keen and 

 plucky dog to keep a badger in one place in his 

 earth while the diggers get down to him. A 

 half-hearted dog, that does not keep its quarry 

 employed defending himself the whole time, is of 

 no use to the badger-digger, for the badger im- 

 mediately turns his tail to the dog and begins 

 to scratch, throwing out a blast of sand behind 

 that no animal can face. The dog has to draw 

 off, blinded and suffocated, while Brock rapidly 

 extends his tunnel. If one can succeed in stop- 

 ping up the pocket behind the badger he can 

 scratch no further, being unable to dispose of 

 the earth he loosens, and thus he becomes jammed 

 up, powerless to escape. 



In the hills of the north, where these animals 

 are now comparatively rare, one regularly comes 

 across solitary male specimens, which wander from 

 valley to valley and forest to forest. On hearing 

 that badgers have taken up their abode in a certain 

 locality, it is often found that one of these nomadic 

 old dogs is at the bottom of the rumour. An 



