46 
So it is, in the sense that it avoids, rather than confronts, impending 
danger; but this is simply the instinctive prudence and discretion of a 
creature which prefers the absolute immunity of its subterranean resorts 
to the chances of unequal combat in which it is at disadvantage. Cer- 
tainly no lack of courage, determination, and physical endurance is seen 
when the creature, captured or cut off from its retreat, is brought to bay. 
Its pluck then is as conspicuous as its really formidable strength. The 
cruel sport of ‘ Badger baiting ” is sometimes indulged in the West; and 
if the animal be given a barrel or similar retreat, in which it is secure 
from attack in the rear, it may prove more than a match for a strong 
dog. Indeed, the fighting qualities of the Badger, and stubborn resist- 
ance it offers at whatever unfair odds, have supplied our language with 
a verb of peculiar significance: ‘to badger” is to beset on all sides, and 
harrass and worry. The stout, thick-set and depressed shape of the ani- 
mal is greatly in its favor, combining, with its long, loose hair, to pre- 
vent a dog from reaching vulnerable parts, and to embarrass it in at- 
tempting to take hold; the snap o: the jaws inflicts a serious wound; 
and finally the tenacity of life is at a high rate.” 
The Badger is not readily trapped; he will sometimes turn a trap over 
and spring it from the under side before attempting to remove the bait. 
With an earth-covered trap, dezd fall or garrote, he may be taken; in 
early spring, while the ground is still hard, they may be easily captured 
by flooding their retreats. 
The habits of the animal in confinement have been carefully studied 
by Audubon and Bachman. They observed that in running, the fore- 
feet cross each other, and the body nearly touches the ground; the heel 
does not s.gcs the ground as in the bear, but is slightly elevated above 
it. In ds@¥ing, the fore-feet are used for excavating, and the hind- 
feet, like paddies, to expel the earth from the hole; the animal buries 
itself in the ground in a minute, and very soon advances to the end of a 
ten-foot chain, then returns and excayates a fresh gallery, and so amuses 
itself until dragged away by main force. Their specimen was active and 
playful at night, but was dull through the day, lying rolled uplike a ball 
with its head under the body for hours at a time. The animal did not 
refuse bread, but preferred meat, eating a half pound each day. The 
animal did not seem at all sluggish or inclined to hibernate, even when 
the weather was so cold as to freeze, continually, the water given him 
to drink. 
The reproduction of the species is not fully known. Dr. Coues has 
seen a still ungrown specimen in Colorado during the latter part of 
August. The periods of gestation and lactation are probably unknown. 
