152 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP, 
rowed and its numbers are decreased through the 
encroachments and persecution of mankind. The 
Indians kill it for food when they can, but few 
white men have been able to stomach the flesh, 
which is tainted to the fancy, if not actually to the 
palate, with the musky odor that belongs to the 
animal, and arises from the possession of anal 
glands, similar to those that make the skunks and 
many other mustelines odious to us; but our Amer- 
ican badger is far less offensive in this respect than 
are the “‘stinking”’ species of the Old World. The 
fur is prized by the Indians for various special pur- 
poses, and enters largely into modern trade, being 
well adapted and beautiful for robes, overcoats, 
and the like. The animals, consequently, are 
trapped and poisoned extensively for the sake of 
their pelts; while the farmers, with a sadly mis- 
taken sense of propriety, poison and drown them 
out as nuisances. I say mistaken, because the only 
harm badgers do, is by digging here and there; 
while they serve the farmer beneficently by killing 
off the gophers, rabbits, and ground-squirrels, which, 
unless their multiplication is restrained, may speed- 
ily become a serious pest, as has been shown in 
California and Kansas. Since badger-baiting has 
gone out of fashion, and as the animal is not in 
demand as a pet, efforts are rarely made to take 
one alive by smoking it out as used to be done. 
It is a waste of time to try to dig one out, for it can 
go deeper and deeper as fast as you can follow it. 
