THE KALAN, OR SEA OTTER \ 
305 
The Badger is very susceptible of human influence, and can be effectually tamed with but 
little trouble. It is generally set down as a stupid animal, but in reality is possessed of con- 
siderable powers of reasoning. One of these animals has been known to set at defiance all the 
traps that were intended for its capture, and to devour the baits without suffering for its 
temerity. On one occasion, the animal was watched out of its burrow, and a number of traps 
set round the orifice, so that its capture appeared to be tolerably certain. But when the Badger 
returned to its domicile, it set at nought all the devices of the enemy, and by dint of jumping 
over some of the traps and rolling over others, gained its home in safety. 
The colors of the Badger are gray, black, and white, which are rather curiously distributed. 
The head is white, with, the exception of a rather broad and very definitely marked black line 
SKA OTTER, OR KALAH.—JSnhydris manna. 
on each side, commencing near the snout and ending at the neck, including the eye and the 
ear in its course. The body is of a reddish-gray, changing to a white-gray on the ribs and 
tail. The throat, chest, abdomen, legs and feet, are of deep blackish-brown. The average 
length of the Badger is two feet six inches, and its height at the shoulder eleven inches. 
The American Badger ( Taxidea americana ) is widely distributed throughout the United 
States, ranging from Wisconsin to the Pacific, reaching far to the north. Though this animal 
resembles in general features the European species, very considerable differences are known. 
A Mexican species replaces this Badger below latitude 35°. 
Upon the northern shores of the Pacific Ocean, and especially in those parts where the 
xsiatic and American continents approach nearest to each other, an extremely large species of 
Otter is found, which has the peculiarity of preferring the sea-coast to the fresh- water lakes 
and rivers for the greater part of the year. 
The Kalax, or Sea Otter, is very much larger than its fresh- water relations, being rather 
more than twice the size of the common Otter, and weighing as much as seventy or eighty 
pounds. During the colder months of the year, the Kalan dwells by the sea-shores, and can be 
