154 WILD NEIGHBORS chap, v 



fully carries the pits to a knothole in the floor of 

 the porch and drops them through it to the ground. 



" Every morning when he gets up he carries his 

 bed out of his little house, shakes it thoroughly, 

 and throws it over the boards that fence him in. 

 At night he always carries it back, but through 

 the day it gets thoroughly aired. 



" He will beg and scold vociferously if he is not 

 given his daily bath. This he takes in a large 

 dripping-pan, washing first his face and paws, 

 then getting in, first on his belly, then turning on 

 his back. When a mere baby, he fell into a tub of 

 water, which gave him such a scare that any large 

 amount of water will still frighten him ; but he 

 enjoys his shallow pan immensely. His bath fin- 

 ished, he will, unless watched, overturn the pan, 

 taking one edge in his fore feet, which he uses as 

 cleverly as does a bear or a monkey, lifting it up 

 and flopping it over." 



These facts are truly interesting, but really they 

 do not throw much light upon the natural habits 

 of the species, for this little representative never 

 had the example or instruction of any of its kind, 

 and, in a thoroughly unbadger-like environment, 

 behaved himself much as any other household pet 

 might do. One would not expect to learn much 

 of the manners and customs of the Eskimos, for 

 instance, from the behavior of a person of that 

 race who had grown up from infancy in New York. 



