BADGER, Meles, a genus of quadrupeds of the bear family or ursida (see BEAR), and included by Linnmus in the genus ursas or bear, but forming a sort of connecting-link between this family and the mustelidm or weasel and otter family. To the skunks (q.v.), which are ranked in that family, the badgers have a particularly strong resemblance, and their dentition and habits are almost the same. The dentition of badgers differs from that of bears chiefly in the large size of the tuberculous molar teeth at the bottom of each jaw, showing a still greater adaptation to vegetable food.. Badgers, like the rest Of the family to which they belong, are plantigrade, i.e., they walk on the whole sole of the foot, and not merely on the fore part of it. The body is thus brought nearer to the ground than it otherwise would be from their length of limb. The head is long, with a pointed muzzle, the tail short, the skin very thick and tough, the hair long. The gait is slow, the habits nocturnal and solitary. There are five toes on each, both of the fore and hind feet, and the feet are peculiarly adapted for digging and burrowing. A peculiar characteristic of the badgers, not found in any other quadrupeds of the same family, is the possession of a bag, beneath the tail, for the secretion of a peculiar sub stance, of a disagreeable odor, which is supposed to be of use in directing the sexes to each other in their solitary wanderings.—The common B. (.111taxus or M. xulgaris) is the only quadruped of the bear family now found in the British islands. It is widely diffused over Europe and the middle parts of Asia. It is grayish brown above and black beneath; the head white, with a longitudinal black band on each side; the body long but robust, in size about equal to that of a small fox, the hair coarse and reaching to the ground as the animal walks. The average length is 2 ft. 6 in., and the height at the shoulder 11 inches. It haunts the gloomy recesses of woods, or thick coppices on the sides of hills, and digs for itself "a deep and well-formed domicile, consisting of more than one apartment, the single entrance to which is by a deep, oblique, and even tortuous excavation." In this, or similar excavation, the B. sleeps through the winter. The B. makes use of its nose in digging, scrapes with the fore-paws, flinging the earth as far back by them as possible, and, when the accumulation is considerable, pushes it away by means of the hind-feet. The B. is extremely cleanly in its habits. It is one of the most perfectly omnivorous of animals, in a wild state as well as in confine ment; fruits, roots, beech-mast, eggs, young birds, small quadrupeds, frogs, snails, worms, and insects, equally constitute its natural food. It has been known to•visit garden for strawberries. It is also fond of honey, and of the larva of wasps and wild bees, for the sake of which it digs up their nests, its hide being impervious to their stings. It is often caught by placing a sack in the mouth of its hole, when it is out at
night; dogs are then sent into the wood to alarm it, upon which it flees to its hole. Dogs sent into the hole are often foiled by earth which the B. throws back upon them to block up their way; nor is it easy for a dog to contend with it, owing to its great strength, and particularly the strength of its jaws. A barbarous sport was formerly, and to sonic extent still is practised, called B.-baiting, or drawing the badge,. A 13. kept in a barrel was assailed by dogs, and at last, yielding to superior numbers, was dragged out, upon which it was released and allowed to go back to its den, to recover itself, and be baited again, which happened several times daily, when the B. was kept as an attraction to a public-honse of the lowest sort. The verb to badger, expressive of persevering annoy ance by numerous assailants, was originally employed with reference to the practice of B.-baiting. . The flesh of the B. is said to be very agreeable, particularly when cured in the form of hams. It is much used in China. The B. is easily domesticated when taken young, and becomes very familiar. In Scotland and the north of England, a B. is still called a brock, its Anglo-Saxon name; and in some parts of England it is termed a gray, from which some derive grayhound.—The balysaur of India, also called the sand bear and Indian B. (M. collaris), very much resembles the common B., but is taller, and has a more hog-like muzzle, and a longer tail. Its habits and its food are similar to those of the common B., and, when defends itself with great vigor. It is chiefly found in hilly districts.—The American B. (..1f. Labradorica) was at first. supposed to be a mere variety of the European B., but has proved to be very distinct, so that it has been regarded by some naturalists as worthy of a separate genus (taxidea), and is some times called ta.rel. Its teeth are more adapted than those of the B. for carnivorous subsistence, and it chiefly preys on small animals, such as marmots, which it pursues into their holes in the sandy plains near the Missouri and the Rocky mountains. It is in that region that it abounds, over a considerable range of latitude, but it is not known to exist in Labrador, so that its specific name is perhaps the perpetuation of an error. In its pursuit of the smaller quadrupeds upon which it preys, it enlarges their burrows, and renders some parts of the plains dangerous to persons on horseback. Its prevailing color is hoary gray in winter, yellowish brown in summer, the under parts generally yellowish white; a white stripe runs from the nose over the forehead to the neck. The hair becomes not only very long but woolly in winter.—The burrowing powers of this animal aro extraordinary, It sometimes makes burrows 6 or 7 ft. deep, running under ground to a length of 30 feet.