136 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP, 
spine as if carefully brushed toward each flank, is 
loose and flaring at the sides, giving the animal 
the appearance of having a rather stiff fur blanket 
balanced across its back. The legs are short and 
firm, and the large feet are furnished with long 
and very strong claws, making them powerful 
digging-tools. The tail is short and thick. The 
head is broad, massive, and dog-like, with round, 
furry ears, a hairy muzzle, and jaws filled with 
formidable teeth, scarcely less terrible than those 
of the wolverine. The whole squat, compact, large- 
boned, massively skulled form indicates great mus- 
cular power; and it is controlled by a capable brain 
and an indomitable spirit. 
“As gray as a badger” is a proverbial expres- 
sion that originated, probably, almost in the begin- 
nings of speech, and in reference to the European 
badger, which has much the same general appear- 
ance and methods as ours, but anatomically is 
somewhat different. The loose fur is a “ grizzle of 
blackish, with white, gray, or tawny,” each hair 
having all these colors on some part of its length, 
and the whole blending handsomely. The colors 
vary greatly, however, with season, age, and health, 
and in the high, arid interior of the country are 
always much lighter, less tawny, than in the 
moister, easier climate of the Pacific Slope. The 
fur of the under side of the body is more uni- 
formly whitish than on the upper parts, except as 
to the feet, which are blackish brown. The head 
! 
