BADGERS. 87 
November, and do not reappear till the middle of the following March, unless there 
should be a protracted thaw, during which they will sally forth in search of food. 
In order to afford additional security, the mouth of the burrow is blocked from the 
inside by its occupant. The burrow is always kept scrupulously clean, and is lined 
with fern and other vegetable substances; and Mr. Ellis states that “as the winter 
approaches, the old bedding is replaced by dry fern and grass raked together by 
the badger’s powerful claws. This is often left to wither in little heaps till dry 
enough for the purpose. Partially concealed, I have watched a badger gathering 
fern, and using a force in its collection quite surprising.” 
The peculiar conformation of the upper molar teeth of the badger at once 
proclains that the diet of the animal is by no means exclusively carnivorous; and 
Professor T. Bell states that its food “consists indifferently of various roots, earth- 
nuts, beech-mast, fruits, the eggs of birds, some of the smaller mammals, frogs, and 
insects.” It is also ascertained that the badger is in the habit of digging up wasps’ 
nests for the purpose of feeding upon the larvee in the combs; and it has an equal 
partiality for the contents of the nests of wild bees. 
It has been very generally asserted that badgers and foxes do not get on well 
together, and that the former kill the cubs of the latter. Mr. Ellis states, however, 
that, on his estate at least, “the badgers and the foxes are not unfriendly, and last 
spring a litter of cubs was brought forth very near the badgers; but their mother 
removed them after they had grown familiar, as she probably thought they were 
showing themselves more than was prudent.” Mr. Harting also mentions more 
than one instance where these two animals have lived amicably together in the 
same burrow ; in one of these cases a fox having annually given birth to cubs in 
the badger’s den. 
Within the deep recesses of its burrow, which often terminates in a fork-like 
manner, are born the young of the badger; the number in a litter being usually 
three or four. The young are produced during the summer; and are at first blind, 
not acquiring the power of sight till the tenth day. It is a curious, but apparently 
well-ascertained circumstance, that the female badger, like the roe-deer, has the 
power of extending the time of gestation considerably beyond the usual period. 
Quoting once more from Mr. Ellis, that gentleman, writing in the autumn of 
1877, states that on his estate “in June the first young badger appeared at the 
mouth of the earth, and was soon followed by three others, and then by their 
mother. After this, they continued to show every evening, and soon learnt to take 
the food prepared for them. The young are now almost full grown, and, forgetting 
their natural timidity, will feed so near that I have placed my hand on the back 
of one of them. The old ones are more wary, but often feed with their family, 
although at a more cautious distance. Their hearing and sense of smell are most 
acute, and it is curious to see them watch, with lifted head and ears erect, then, if 
all is quiet, search the ground for a raisin or a date. But the least strange sight 
or sound alarms them, and they rush headlong to earth with amazing speed.” 
When taken young, badgers may be easily and perfectly tamed. 
The difficulty of “drawing a badger” when in a tub is well 
known, and tries the pluck of the best bred terriers to the utmost. 
It appears, however, that in Germany dachshunds usually bolt the badger from its 
Hunting. 
