1868.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
251 
The American Badger. 
The badgers are a peculiar and interesting 
genus belonging to the weasel family, but very 
unlike most of their congeners. The American 
badger is found west of the Mississippi; its 
Latin or scientific name is Taxidea Americana. 
Its length is about 
two feet, but its 
long hair makes it 
look more, and 
nearly conceals its 
tail, which is actu¬ 
ally about six inch¬ 
es long. The badger 
is very broad, and 
the long gray hair 
upon its back hangs 
off from it like a 
cloak or blanket, 
while the hair of 
the legs and belly 
is short and of a 
dark brown color. 
This gives the ani¬ 
mal a very peculiar 
appearance, which 
is well represented 
in our engraving. 
The head is small, 
pointedly conical 
or wedge-shaped, 
and striped with 
light and dark 
bands, in a way to increase this wedge-shaped 
appearance. Badgers burrow with great ease, 
and make their homes beneath the surface of 
the earth. Their food is both vegetable and 
animal—they being fond of sweet fruits, nuts, 
honey, insects, and small animals—and their 
habits are much like those of the European 
badger, which they greatly resemble. The skin 
of the badger is ex¬ 
ceedingly loose and 
tough, and when 
the animal rolls it¬ 
self up in a ball it 
will bear very se¬ 
vere handling from 
men and dogs, be¬ 
fore it will unroll. 
Its bite is terribly 
severe, but it never 
attacks. It is, be¬ 
sides,provided with 
offensively odorif¬ 
erous glands. The 
badger is domesti¬ 
cated without diffi¬ 
culty, becomes very 
familiar, and exhib¬ 
its no little cunning 
and great playful¬ 
ness. Its motions 
are awkward, but 
sprightly and live¬ 
ly. A badger con¬ 
fined in a model’¬ 
ll ately roomy enclos¬ 
ure might remind one of the ways of a lively 
six-weeks-old pig. There is a Mexican species 
(Taxidea Berlandieri) which is much like ours. 
---- 
Asbces, Plaster, and Hen Manure for 
Corn.— “ J. W.,” of Clyde, N. Y., says he “uses 
this mixture ou his corn, and finds it a very good 
scare-crow. Some one has written against this 
mixture as one part neutralizing another. What 
is your chemical decision and theory in this mat¬ 
ter? I am satisfied the practice is profitable 
with me.” If the hen manure is dry and has al¬ 
ways been kept dry, so that it has not undergone 
fermentation, there will he little or no loss from 
mixing ashes with it. If the hen manure is de¬ 
composed, so that it contains aminoniacal salts, 
the American badger, (Taxidea Americana.) 
the ashes, especially if the mixture is moist, 
would set free the ammonia, and cause a loss. 
Pachydermous Animals—The Peccary. 
Naturalists classify under the order Pachy- 
dermata, or thick-hided animals, the elephant, 
rhinoceros, hippopotamus, all of the swine 
the Texas PECCARY, (Dicotyles torqnatus.) 
family, and the horse and his kindred—the ass, 
zebra, etc. Some of these have not particularly 
thick skins, but the teeth or other characteris¬ 
tics show their affiliations with those which 
have. For instance, though to external appear¬ 
ance, the hog and horse are totally unlike, yet 
the teeth and their arrangement in their jaws 
are in many respects quite similar. Hogs, be¬ 
sides, have been known which had solid hoofs 
like horses. The nearest approach to a native 
hog in this country is the Texan peccary, the 
animal represented in the accompanying engrav¬ 
ing. Two species of peccary and the South 
American tapir are the only native representa¬ 
tives of the great family of ■ the pachyderms. 
The Texas Peccary, Collared Peccary, or 
Mexican Hog, as it 
is sometimes called, 
(Dicotyles torqua- 
tus), is quite an at¬ 
tractive little ani¬ 
mal, of thoroughly 
piggish aspect and 
manners. It is rath¬ 
er symmetrical in 
form, slender-leg¬ 
ged, the hind feet 
tliree-toed, thick¬ 
necked, with a 
snout adapted to 
rooting. It is about 
three feet long, and 
weighs fifty to sixty 
pounds. The color 
is dark brownish 
gray,the bristle-like 
hairs being nearly 
black, with white 
tips. An oblique 
band of light color 
passes from the 
throat upward and 
backward across 
the shoulders. Peccaries feed upon fruits, nuts, 
roots, insects, and small animals, and occasion¬ 
ally a herd will do considerable damage in 
destroying crops. They are said to he without 
fear, and so vigorously do they resist an attack, 
that they may really be reckoned dangerous 
foes. Their tusks are concealed, but are nearly 
straight, sharply two-edged, and very strong, so 
that they will both 
cut like a lancet 
and tear powerful¬ 
ly. Iu disposition 
they are irritable. 
The flesh is some¬ 
times eaten, hut it 
is only fit for food 
at certain seasons, 
and then that of the 
males is never used. 
The peccary has 
two glands in the 
small of the hack, 
or loins, which se¬ 
crete an oil with a 
disagreeable odor, 
which taints the 
flesh, and these 
must be immediate¬ 
ly removed if one 
is killed for food. 
We know not what 
attempts may have 
been made to do¬ 
mesticate this ani¬ 
mal, hut have little 
doubt it might be done, and in all probability 
after a few generations the bad flavor of the 
flesh would be improved and an aptitude to take 
on fat developed; so that, if from any cause 
the flesh of the swine should lose in popular 
favor, we may possibly look for a substitute in 
that of this Texan cousin, and however distant 
that day may he, we ought always consider the 
uses to which our native animals may come. 
