Ursiij.e.- 



-MAMMAT.IA.- 



-I'nsiD.R. 



tlio belly toucliiug the ground during progression. 

 The head is remarkably long and attenuated in front. 

 The ears are short, almost concealed, and placed well 

 back. The mouth is provided with thirty-six teeth, of 

 which there are twelve incisors, four canines, sixteen 

 spurious, and four true molars, a moiety being appro- 

 priated by either jaw. The back is feebly curved, the 

 tail being particularly short and only reaching down 

 to the middle of the limbs. One of this animal's most 

 remarkable peculiarities consists in the presence of a 





The European Badger (Meles taxus). 



glandular pouch situated under the tail. This organ, 

 which also exists in many other carnivorous animals, 

 such as the skunks and weasels, secretes an unctuous 

 oily material having a disgusting fetid odour. It is 

 this circumstance which luis suggested the common 

 proverb, by which ill-savoured matters are said to 

 " stink like badger." With regard to the varied 

 colour of the fur, Mr. OgiUiy gives the following 

 minute description : — " The head of the badger is 

 white, except the region beneath the chin, which is 

 black, and two bands of the same colour, which rise on 

 each side, a httle behind the corners of the mouth, and 

 after passing backwards and enveloping the eye and 

 ear, terminate at the junction of the head and neck. 

 The hairs of the n|iper part of the body, considered 

 separately, are of three diflerent colours — yellowish- 

 white at the bottom, black in the middle, and ashj-- 

 grey at the point ; the last colour alone, however, 

 appears externally, and gives the uniform sandy-grey 

 shade which covers all the upper parts of the body. 

 The tail is furnished with long, coarse hair of the 

 same colour and quality, and the throat, breast, belly, 

 and limbs are covered with shorter hair of a uni- 

 form deep black." The European badger can scarcely 

 be considered a common animal. It is by no means 

 abundant on the continent, while in this country it 

 appears to be rapidly approaching extinction. It lias 

 lost its ursine companion of former days, and in a few 

 centuries more our persecuted friend will probably be 

 better known by his fossil remains than by the smell 

 of his greasy fur. At, or immediately succeeding, the 

 close of the glacial period, he associated himself with 

 several species of bears and hyrenas, whose specific 

 characters and habits are only known to us by the 

 bony relics they have left in caverns and among the 



sands of time. A master hand has thus portrayed 

 the habits of a living badger : — " Heavy, sleepy, and 

 slothful, endowed with but a moderate degree of intel- 

 lect, and with instincts dull and obtuse, it yet possesses 

 a character and qualities which, if not peculiarly iuttr- 

 esting and intelligent, are far from being disgusting 

 and ferocious ; and, if it do not boast the admirable 

 sagacity and lively attachment of the dog, it is yet free 

 from the cunning and rapine of the fox, and the 

 fierceness and treachery of the cat. Its favourite 

 haunts are obscure and gloomy. It retires to the 

 deepest recesses of woods, or to thick coppices cover- 

 ing the sides of hills; and there with its long and 

 powerful claws, digs for itself a deep and well-formed 

 domicile, consisting of more than one apartment, the 

 single entrance to which is by a deep, oblique, and 

 even tortuous excavation. The general form of the 

 elongated but robust body, the long taper muzzle ter- 

 minating in a movable snout, the hard coarse hair, 

 the loose and leathery skin, the low and plantigraJo 

 limbs, and the fossorial character of the claws — condiine 

 to fit the badger for a subterraneous abode, and to 

 enable it to form that abode by its own labour. 

 There it sleeps during the greater part of the day, 

 coming abroad only for a short period in the evening 

 or night to seek its sustenance, in the choice of which 

 it exhibits as completely an omnivorous character as 

 perhaps any animal with which we are acquainted. 

 Its food, in foot, consists indifferently of various roots, 

 earth-nuts, beech-mast, fruits, the eggs of birds, some 

 of the smaller quadrupeds, frogs, and insects. BulTon 

 states that it digs up wasps' nests for the sake of the 

 honey — a fact which has received an interesting con- 

 firmation from the observation of a correspondent of 

 Loudon^s Mar/azine of Natural History, wdio seems, 

 however, to attribute the destruction of these nests to 

 the fondness of the badger for the larvae of the wasp, 

 as he says th;.t the combs were found scattered about, 

 but none were left that contained the maggots." Mr. 

 Bell also observes, further on, in regard to the methods 

 of taking this animal — " The favourite mode, and 

 that which is perhaps the most successful, is by catch- 

 ing him in a sack placed at the entrance of his hole. 

 The haunt of a badger being ascertained, a moon-light 

 night is chosen when he is out feeding, and a small 

 sack is placed within the mouth of the hole, fastened at 

 the outside, with the mouth of the bag outwards, 

 and having a running string round it. Two or three 

 couples of hounds are then thrown off at some dis- 

 tance, and as soon as the badger hears their cry, he 

 makes for his home with all speed, and runs into the 

 sack, which closes behind him by the tightening of the 

 rimning string at its mouth. Another method is by 

 digging him out. This, however, is laborious and not 

 always successful, particularly in sandy soils, in which 

 the badger will easily foil the dogs which pursue him 

 in his subterraneous passages, by throwing the earth 

 back upon them, and blocking up their way, whilst he 

 takes advantage of their loss of time, and makes his 

 way to the surface." The nest of the badger is made 

 of soft herbage, especially moss and grass. The female 

 produces three or four young ones at a birth, the cubs 

 being suckled for about five or six weeks, after which 



