THE AMERICAN BADGER (Ta.ridca Americana) is about 2 feet long, and has an appearance of remarkable breadth flatness. The legs are short and firm, and the large feet are furnished with long and very strong claws, making them powerful digging tools. The tail is short and thick. The head is broad, massive, and doglike, with round, furry ears, a hairy muzzle, and jaws filled with formidable teeth, scarcely less service able than those of the wolverine. The whole squat, compaet. large-boned, massively skulled form indicates great muscular power; and it, is controlled by a well-developed brain and great courage. The loose fur is a blend of blackish with white, gray, or tawny. except as to the feet, which are blackish brown. The head is strik ingly marked, the general color, from the back of the neck forward, dark brown, broken by a dis tinct white stripe from the bridge of the nose back to the nape of the neck, and a somewhat irregular white stripe on each check, reaching from the corners of the mouth to near the top of the ears. Below this on each side is a cres cent-shaped, dark-colored patch. separating the patch from the white of the ears and throat. These conspicuous markings give to the counte nance an expression of native ability and shrewd ness in the disguise of a painted clown. This
animal formerly ranged from Ohio westward. but now is not known east of the dry plains, except in Alinnesota. It is found northward to Hudson Bay and southward into Mexico, where the local variety is called tejon. The badger's stronghold is in the arid regions that abound in gophers and similar burrowing rodents, which he digs out with ease or sometimes catches by a leaping chase. These form his principal food, and be is likely to seize and enlarge their burrows for himself: but birds, frogs, lizards, snakes. in sects—in short. any animal food not carrion— are welcome to him. He does not hibernate in winter, but fares the best he can, mainly by dig ging out the torpid or snugly ensconced striped squirrels, prairie-dogs, and other small animals from their underground retreats: and in this practice he serves the agriculturist a friendly turn. Young badgers occasionally are captured, and make interesting though hardly affectionate pet,. They exhibit amazing strength in moving barriers and breaking bonds. See plate of MINOR AMERICAN CARNIVORES with CARNIVORA.