146 WILD NEIGHBORS chap. 



Stand against anything no bigger than a wolf, at 

 least, without hesitation. But such encounters 

 are no doubt rare, for he seems to have no enemy ; 

 that is, no beast, so far as I know, habitually preys 

 upon or wars against him, though he must quarrel 

 with a savage rival, now and then, and occasionally 

 have to exert himself to overcome resistance by 

 his victims. The only creature he has much 

 reason to dread is the rattlesnake, and he proba- 

 bly knows how to manage him, not to speak of 

 the considerable protection his long coat and loose 

 hide afford against harm from the serpent's fangs. 

 The animal's strength is remarkable, measured 

 otherwise than by its fossorial feats. Lying flat 

 on its back, it rises with ease to a sitting posture, 

 unaided by its fore paws. A captive one, less than 

 two years old, would shove aside a loaded Saratoga 

 trunk that it required two men to handle, and 

 once moved a heavy kitchen range from the corner 

 to the middle of the room. 



The badger feeds upon whatever animal food 

 he can kill or catch that is not carrion. He may 

 pounce upon a slow-moving snake, toad, or lizard ; 

 may creep up to the hare in its form, or to a bird 

 upon its nest, and if he fail in the latter case, for 

 he is not very spry, will console himself with a 

 mess of eggs ; even insects are acceptable, and 

 captives take almost anything that is offered them, 

 usually sitting up and holding the morsel in their 

 paws like a squirrel. 



