THE WEASEL FAMILY 143 



distance of as much as 12 ft. In the badgers the foetid slime 

 exuding from these anal glands is rubbed upon vegetation and 

 the soil, and no doubt serves to attract one sex to the other. 

 Occasionally the presence of this foul-smelling exudation lends 

 a fcEtor to the badger which has become proverbial.^ Yet when 

 the creature is kept in captivity it is not particularly odorous, and 

 is said to be cleanly in its habits. 



Meles taxus. The Common Badger 



The members of the Badger genus {Meles) have a dentition 

 which normally includes four pairs of premolars in each jaw, one 

 pair of molars in the upper jaw, and two pairs in the lower jaw. 

 The Badgers, therefore, are more generalised in their dentition 

 than the Skunks (their near allies) or than the Weasels. But 

 they are exhibiting the same tendency to lose the premolar teeth 

 which is so obvious in the Bears, Raccoons, and Weasels. The 

 first pairs of premolars in both jaws are very minute teeth, and 

 often fall out when the animal is adult. Another feature in 

 badger dentition is the large size of the single molar in the upper 

 jaw. This is nearly as broad as long, and almost square in shape, 

 and is much larger than the upper carnassial or fourth premolar. 

 The carnassial in the lower jaw of the badger (which is the first 

 molar) is rather like the first upper molar in appearance, having 

 three low cusps on the outer side and two longitudinal ridges 

 across the upper talon or heel of the tooth. 



The body is stout and very broad, and the limbs are short. 

 The length of an average badger from the tip of the snout 

 to the root of the tail is about 2I ft. The tail, which is very 

 bushy, like a stumpy white brush, is about y-J in. in length.* 

 The badger is quite plantigrade as regards the fore feet, but 

 the hind feet are only semi-plantigrade — that is to say, that it 

 often walks on its toes, and not on the whole length of the 



1 " He stinks like a badger.'' 



^ A writer in the Globe of May 29th, 1903, gives the average weight of 

 Cornish badgers at 30 lb. About the heaviest specimen known is one that 

 weighed 43 lb. (Warwickshire). 



