OCR Text |
Show _4- When we had finished our homework, it was with an air of excitement that each of us made his or her report. Jane began by stating that the badger belonged to the weasel family, that he is a tough, chunky earth mover, bowlegged, pigeon-toed and underslung. A white stripe runs from his nose over his wide head with parallel white stripes behind each eye. Holding up a picture of the animal, Little Twirp exclaimed, "His face looks like a skunk!" Mother picked up one of the books and said, "Here's the answer to your question of how big he gets. It says, 'His grizzled fur drapes over a twenty-five to thirty inch body that Can weigh from fifteen to twenty-five pounds.'" "Is that as big as a bear?" Little Twirp asked. "Even though his short legs lift his flat body only about nine inches off the ground, badgers are very strong and difficult to catch. When one is caught in a steel trap he digs himself in so hard that a man can't even pull him out with the trap chain," Jane concluded. Jimmie began his report with the caution to never badger a badger. "What does that mean?" Little Twirp wanted to know. "Don't get in such a hurry." Jimmie scolded. The continuing report answered his question. The badger is one tough animal, quick tempered and very brave. He will fight savagely if cornered by dogs. Badgers were once used for a cruel sport called 'badger baiting.' They were placed in barrels and made to fight dogs that were pushed in to drag them out. "That's where the expression to 'badger' comes from," Mother interjected. "It means to tease." With eight children she had heard enough of that. |