120 MAMMALIA — BADGER. 



be met with ; and carries all to her expecting brood, which she frequently 

 brings forward to the mouth of her hole. 



These animals are naturally of a chilly temperament. Such as are rear- 

 ed in a house seem to be never more happy than when near a fire. They 

 are likewise very subject to the mange ; and, unless carefully washed, the 

 dogs that penetrate into their burrows are seized with the same distemper. 



The hair of the badger is always filthy; between the anus and the tail 

 there is an opening, which, though it has no communication with any inte- 

 rior part, and is hardly an inch deep, continually emits an oily liquid. 

 This the animal is fond of sucking. Its flesh, when the animal is well fed, 

 makes excellent hams and bacon ; and of its skin are made coarse furs, col- 

 lars for dogs, and trappings for horses. The hair is used for painters' 

 brushes. 



THE AMERICAN BADGER. i 



The American badger, as compared with the European, is generally less 

 in size, and of a lighter make ; the head, though equally long, is not so 

 sharp towards the nose, and the markings on the fur are remarkably diffe- 

 rent. A narrow white line runs from between the eyes towards the back, 

 the rest of the upper part of tlie head is brown, the throat and whole under 

 jaw are white, the cheeks partly so ; a semicircular brown spot is placed 

 between the light part of the cheeks, and the ears. 



The American badger frequents the sandy plains or prairies, which skirt 

 the Rocky Mountains, as far north as latitude fifty-eight degrees. It 

 . abounds on the plains watered by the Missouri, but its exact southern range 

 has not, as far as I know, been defined by any traveller. The sand prairies, 

 in the neighborhood of Carltcn-house, on the banks of the Saskatchewan, 

 and also on the Red River, that flows into Lake Winnipeg, are perforated 

 by innumerable badger-holes, v/hich are a great annoyance to horsemen, 

 particularly when the ground is covered with snow. 



Whilst the ground is covered with snow, the badger rarely comes from 

 its hole; and I suppose that in that climate it passes the winter fi-om the 

 beginning of November to April, in a torpid state. Indeed, as it obtains 

 the small animals on which it feeds by surprising them in their burrows, it 



' Taxus Labrculcn-ica. 



