168 THE BADGER. 



On one occasion Smith, the keeper at Boldre- 

 wood, watched a badger thus occupied in the dusk 

 of evening, being unable to tell what the animal 

 was about as he stood on a neighbouring ridge. 

 It was a small badger, and it had collected rather 

 more grass than it could conveniently carry, so 

 that it had some difficulty in surmounting the 

 obstacles of the runway. Finally emerging into 

 the open riding, the animal made better progress ; 

 but here, unfortunately, it caught wind of Smith, 

 and promptly made for the dense cover. The 

 keeper was standing clearly in sight the whole 

 time, but he is of the opinion that badgers (like 

 the bear and the wolverine, and, indeed, all animals 

 of the undergrowth that are short in the leg) are 

 possessed of very poor eyesight. They depend 

 almost entirely on their keen hearing and scent, 

 and I doubt very much if the average badger 

 would recognise a man even at forty paces, and 

 provided it could not scent him, the animal would 

 probably not be greatly afraid. 



In addition to their nests underground, badgers 

 make use of sunning-nests, which they construct 

 for temporary use at the mouth of the main earth. 

 This is a point concerning which many naturalists 

 profess disbelief; but having seen such nests and 

 photographed them, I am naturally satisfied. 



The sunning-nest is a large and untidy bundle 

 of bedding, trodden out to the curvature of the 

 animal's body, just as a cat or a dog hollows out a 

 bed for itself. It is always placed directly above 

 the mouth of the earth, so that, should its 

 occupant be disturbed, he or she has nothing to 

 do but roll out and tumble underground in the 

 twinkling of an eye. Also, the nest is so situated 

 that it catches the sunlight falling through the 



