THE BADGER 



seem to stay in one place. There is the 

 steady yap-yap-yap of the dog just distin- 

 guishable to the ear. 



Quick, every hand to work. A trench six 

 feet deep, or deeper if necessary, must be cut 

 across the set to cut off the badger from the 

 passages. With pick, spade, and shovel the 

 work goes on, while some one listens to 

 know whether the scene of battle moves. 

 If it does, the badger may have found a side 

 gallery, and gone far enough, or he may 

 have charged the dog. He may have passed 

 by a different road beneath your feet in the 

 trench ; but if the terrier has succeeded in 

 keeping him face to face and engaged, yet 

 not driving him so hard as to make him 

 charge, you may be successful in an hour or 

 two, and find that your cutting intersects the 

 passage in which the badger and the terrier 

 are engaged. If the badger suspects you 

 are cutting off his only means of escape he 

 will charge and fight, and the terrier will 

 sometimes be unable to back fast enough ; 

 then there will be a meeting of teeth and 

 jaws, the badger holding the dog through 



87 



