THE BADGER. 179 



and there were indications which showed precisely 

 how their deaths had taken place. 



At this point the underground passage was 

 barred by a shelf or step, which rose vertically 

 about two feet, the passage continuing beyond it. 

 On the top of this shelf the badger had crouched, 

 so that the dogs were at a hopeless disadvantage, 

 having to leap up at him as he lay, his own body 

 protected, just out of convenient reach. The 

 keeper believed that Brock had brought about the 

 end by resorting to an old badger trick, that of 

 tucking his head down between his forepaws, so 

 that only the tough muscles at the back of his 

 neck were exposed. Immediately a terrier gripped 

 him by this portion of his anatomy he uncurled, 

 so that the terrier's throat was exposed to his fangs, 

 which, of course, settled the matter. 



POWERS OF DEFENCE. 



I have many times heard it disputed as to 

 whether one terrier is able to hold a badger out 

 in the open. Some assert emphatically that no 

 terrier on earth can hold a full-grown badger that 

 is bent on gaining a place of safety, while other 

 authorities on the subject are equally emphatic in 

 backing their belief that any terrier can hold any 

 badger so long as he concentrates his energies on 

 doing so. The evidence on both sides seems equally 

 strong. Mr Smith, the keeper at Boldrewood, 

 was one night out earth-stopping, when a badger 

 bolted for the very hole he was in the act of 

 closing. A terrier caught the animal at the mouth 

 of the hole, between the keeper's legs, and in 

 the scuffle that followed the lamp was upset, and 

 a general melee ensued. Nevertheless, the terrier 

 was successful in preventing the badger from 



