268 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



upheaval of the ground in his digging opera- 

 tions, the badger has been for centuries assist- 

 ing in that work of preparing the soil for man's 

 cultivation which is the valuable heritage of the 

 present from the small plains-animals of the 

 past. Ever since the glaciers of the great Ice 

 Cap left the surface of northern America an 

 expanse of smooth rock and lifeless gravels 

 they have been fallowing the soil of that great 

 field which stretches from the Ohio to the Co- 

 lumbia, and from the Bio Grande to the Sas- 

 katchewan, and rendering it fruitful for the 

 pasturage first of large game, next of the ranch- 

 man's herds and finally for the farmer's fat 

 stock and for the planting of his grain and 

 fruits. 



How the badger aids the farmer. It must 

 be remembered that the badger's food consists 

 almost wholly of those insects and animals 

 which prey upon crops and young orchards, and 

 in this his services have been and are of im- 

 mense and constant value. Wherever he goes 

 he picks up insects, and in Kansas is noted to 

 have lived very largely on the dreaded grass- 

 hoppers. Beetles and their grubs are taken, 



