274 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



simple cavity, for excavations are found within its sides into 

 which the animal also retires. Frequently many indivi- 

 duals are found in one burrow, and there is reason to believe 

 that the male and female always inhabit together. These 

 animals quit their retreats only in search of prey, and 

 in winter they are many days without appearing, not 

 that they fall into a lethargic sleep, but they are afraid 

 of the cold, and being very fat, are not much pressed 

 by hunger. Summer is the season of parturition, and 

 the females bring forth two, three, and sometimes four 

 little ones at a birth. They take great care of them, and 

 sometimes fetch them to enjoy the sun on the edges of their 

 burrows. From their second year the young Badgers can 

 reproduce, and their life is probably extended to twelve or 

 fifteen years. The Badger is carnivorous, but less so than 

 the Dog. It will eat bread, fruits, fyc, and is easily tamed. 

 It lives and plays familiarly with Dogs, comes when called, 

 follows the person who takes care of it, and soon learns to 

 know him. They are found in all Europe as far as Nor- 

 way, and in a great part of Asia. It is also probable that 

 they exist in America. Buffon, in his Supplements, pub- 

 lished one under the name of Carcajou, from that country; 

 but that animal appears to belong to the genus Gulo. 



Hunters distinguish two species of the Badger, one they 

 call Hog-Badger, and the other Dog-Badger. But they 

 only differ in some trifling particulars and slight shades of 

 colour. One kind, say they, is deeper coloured than the 

 other, and one digs more willingly in earthy soils, while 

 sandy grounds are more to the taste of the other. These 

 observations are far from being ascertained to be just, and 

 even if they were, they could only give rise to two varieties 

 of no importance. 



The Badger does not appear to have been known to the 

 Greeks ; at least it has not been discovered that any author 

 of that nation speaks of them. The Latins, on the other 



