THE BADGER. 75 



considerable resistance when attacked, at which time it also 

 increases the emission of its offensive odour. It defends itself 

 with much agility, biting its assailants very severely, and some- 

 times holding them fast between its teeth. It is 'killed with 

 difficulty, except by a blow on the snout, a part where most 

 mammals are very sensitive to injury. 



If caught while young, the badger may be easily and perfectly 

 tamed. It soon becomes playful with the domestic dog, and 

 will follow its owner about the house. It is very fond of the fire, 

 and will sometimes approach so near to it as to be much scorched. 



One which was taken when very young was brought up as a 

 playmate in the family of a cottager, in the neighbourhood of 

 Shaftesbury, whose children used to sport with it as familiarly 

 as they would with a puppy. But their father, finding that it 

 had become rather too rough in its fondness, disposed of it to 

 Mr. James Buckland, who sent it to Professor Bell, in whose 

 house it soon became a great favourite ; showing, too, on its 

 part, great attachment to the zoologist and his family. "He 

 followed me like a dog," says the Professor, "yelping and 

 barking with a peculiar, sharp cry, when he found himself shut 

 out of the room in which I happened to be sitting. He was 

 accustomed to come into the dining-room during dinner, of 

 which he was generally permitted to partake, and he always 

 ate his morsels in a very orderly manner. He was, in fact, an 

 affectionate, gentle, good-tempered fellow, and very cleanly 

 withal."* 



The badger is not without its uses when dead. The skin, 

 dressed with the hair on, is made into pistol-cases, and the 

 pendant pouches of those Highland regiments that wear kilts. 

 Of the long hairs are made what artists term " sweetening 

 tools," which are painting-brushes used only to brush lightly 

 over oil-paintings, for the purpose of softening and blending 

 the tints before they dry. "When in proper season, the flesh 

 of the badger is wholesome and palatable food ; as such, it is 

 much used in China [Italy, and Germany], where the animals 

 * British Quadrupeds (1837), p. 126. 



