THE BADGEK. 177 



saying ' surly as a badger ' lacks support in actual 

 fact. Naturally Brock is surly when imprisoned in 

 a box and tortured by men and dogs, but I believe 

 that in their home -life badgers live in perfect 

 harmony, with never an ill word. The devotion 

 of the mother is heroic. She has been known, in 

 one instance at least, to hold the den while her 

 little cubs made good their escape, facing hope- 

 less odds, and gamely meeting her death in 

 covering their retreat. On this occasion the 

 warren was invaded because, as the farmers said, 

 the sow-badger had been proved guilty of killing 

 young lambs. When she was dead and the cubs 

 were gone the lamb -killing still continued, and 

 finally it was traced to some far more likely, though 

 less suspected, cause. 



FIGHTING ABILITIES. 



Many extraordinary beliefs exist concerning the 

 badger. I have been gravely told by country- 

 people that his legs on one side are shorter than 

 those on the other, with the result that he is com- 

 pelled to walk on the hillsides, where the angle of 

 the ground counterbalances this natural deformity. 

 How he fares when it comes to going home is 

 not generally explained. Presumably he has to 

 complete the circular, route of the range ! Similarly 

 some peasants believe that the jaws of a badger are 

 provided with a patent locking device, so that, 

 when once he has obtained a firm grip, he is unable 

 to let go. One man actually told me that by 

 thrusting a piece of red cloth fixed on the end of a 

 wire into a burrow you are easily able to catch a 

 badger, in much the same manner as one fishes for 

 crabs, the badger being pulled out immediately he 

 has locked his jaws on the fabric ! 



W.A. 



