Badger

a flat-footed, flesh-eating, burrowing animal allied to the skunk and weasel. The family is widely distributed. Species are found in Europe, India, Japan, South Africa, and America. The flesh is used for food. The pelt is used by furriers. The hair is in demand for shaving brushes and artists' pencils. The European species burrows in banks and copses. Badger hunting is a standard sport in the border counties of Great Britain. Scott's Guy Mannering gives a vivid description of a badger or "brock" hunt, as it is called in the northern counties. The badger defends itself with courage when attacked. The yeomanry of England were at one time given to badger baiting or fighting between a badger and one or more dogs. The badger was frequently given a barrel turned on its side for a shelter. The expression, "to badger" or harass, is derived from this sport.

The American badger is an animal of the prairie and plain. It ranged formerly throughout the Mississippi Valley and westward to Central Mexico and the Pacific Coast. It is now rarely found east of the Mississippi. It has a sharp nose, a broad, flat body, short legs, and large claws. It lives in burrows of its own construction, emerging at night to hunt gophers, mice, eggs of ground birds, and even reptiles and insects. If caught by chance in the open during the day time, it tucks its head and feet under its body and lies so flat as to be mistaken easily for a hillock of earth. It is dormant in winter. The badger has been exterminated in the eastern part of its range, and is now found most frequently in the region of the prairie dog. Wisconsin has received the nickname of the "Badger State," and its inhabitants are sometimes called "Badgers."