7$ THE BADGER. 



of the snout to the rump, or nearly two feet nine inches from 

 the former extremity to the end of the tail : the weight varies 

 in different specimens, and according to the season, some 

 weighing only fifteen pounds, and others exceeding thirty. The 

 body is long and robust ; the skin is loose and tough ; the hair 

 is coarse and wiry ; that on the back is long, and of a fine reddish 

 grey, varying in tint in different parts j that on the belly is 

 particularly long ; the head is white, but with a black band on 

 either side, and dividing the cheek from the forehead, and 

 including the eyes and ears in its own space -, the muzzle is 

 long, and terminates in a moveable snout ; the eyes are small, 

 as also are the ears, which are semi-circular, and nearly con- 

 cealed in long hair ; the tongue is smooth 5 the lower jaw, throat, 

 breast, belly, and the inner sides of the legs are black ; the feet 

 are hairy, each with five toes armed with strong curved claws, 

 fitted for digging ; and the tail is very short, and light grey. 



The walk of the badger is plantigrade, like that of the bear. 

 The two sexes are seldom seen together. They are probably led 

 to discover each other by the fetid odour emitted from a peculiar 

 white secretion contained in a glandular pouch under the tail. 

 In their secluded haunts they dig two or three deep subterra- 

 nean apartments, the only entrance to which is by a slanting 

 and even winding passage. In these burrows they sleep during 

 the greater part of the day, and emerge only for a short 

 period in the evening or night, to go in search of food. In 

 the summer time, the female forms a nest of moss and grass, in 

 which she gives birth to her young, three or four in number. 

 The task of excavating the burrow and attending to the cubs, 

 appears to devolve chiefly upon the female. M. Frederic Cuvier 

 tells us that two young badgers, male and female, were removed 

 from the nest of their mother, and placed in a paved yard, 

 which was so fenced in that they could not escape, but yet had 

 considerable range. They soon raised up some of the pavement 

 and dug a burrow, wherein they passed the day. At night-time 

 they used to leave their subterranean retreat, to eat the food 

 which was placed in readiness for them. After living a year in 



