THE BADGER 



{Meles taxus) 



The Badger was evidently once a very familiar animal ; such expres- 

 sions as "badgering," proverbs like "grey as a badger," and the 

 number of place-names beginning with " Brock " — a local name of the 

 beast — bear witness to his former abundance in our islands ; he is also 

 a widely-spread animal abroad, extending all through Europe and 

 Northern Asia. 



Nowadays, the Badger cannot be called a common animal in 

 Britain, but is still to be found almost everywhere in small numbers, 

 and would probably be quite well known if he were not such a recluse. 

 He is generally a woodland animal, but sometimes frequents rocks, 

 and is very strictly nocturnal, for he does not come out before night- 

 fall, and takes good care to be back home and in bed an hour before 

 sunrise. When on the move, he travels at a fairly good pace, though 

 with the flat-footed gait of a Bear, an animal which he much resembles 

 in many ways, though really a member of the Weasel family. His 

 fore-claws are very large and powerful, and he is a great burrower^ 

 his earth being large and commodious, and having several chambers 

 and entrances. Not being very active, he has to rely on his powers 

 of 4 self-defence when abroad ; he is extraordinarily tough in the skin, 

 and can give a most powerful bite, so that he is a match for anything of 

 his own weight. His great biting-power may be partly explained by 

 the peculiar articulation of the jaw; in most animals this falls away 

 from the skull when the bones are cleaned, but the knuckle-ends of 

 the Badger's jaw are so firmly gripped in bony sockets that it cannot 

 be separated from the skull without breakage of the bone. 



The Badger is a fair-sized animal, some heavy old males reaching 

 the weight of forty pounds, though this is exceptional. His colour is 

 well shown in the illustration, but it is worth mentioning that the species 



