and sedges, rolled up into hard, tight balls, as food for the mother 

 and the three or four little badgers who are to arrive in due season. 

 In the same warm underground chamber the family will pass the 

 cold winter, but as they are fat and well nourished when they en- 

 ter, they spend most of this time in sound motionless sleep, with no 

 thought or need of food, and somehow manage to come out in the 

 spring still sleek and in good condition. 



The silkiness of the heavy covering of this animal and the 

 striking appearance of the distinctly marked black and white head 

 give the fur a fair market value, although the grizzled gray coloring, 

 shading into a tawny or russet with an irregular mottled blackish 

 effect above rather detract from its richness. 



125 



