The third toe
touches
the center line.
The beaver's tracks most strikingly represent the fourth group of mammals in this treatise. In the effort to support and steady the body adequately, the animal endeavors to plant its feet as near as possible under the center of its body, but its corpulency prevents, and the result is a track so ridiculous that it is laughable. The front tracks are covered with the hind feet, the third toenails of which reach the center line, and the heel of which stand, according to the size of the specimen which made the trail, from four to eight inches from it. The nails of the two inside toes of the hind feet are but to a limited extent visible as the web between the toes protrudes them. Where the beaver is scarce and much pursued, the imprint of a forefoot near the water's edge may be discovered occasionally here and there; in this case the prominence of the toenails is unmistakable. I may state here, that a front track at the water's edge is often the only sign which may be found along a stream where beavers have become very wary; they seem to be able to live on almost nothing—leaves, roots, etc.—for not a single cutting can be discovered in such cases. Where not sought extensively, the hunter seldom notes the tracks of this aquatic fur-bearer; cut willows or tree stumps are, if not a surer, at least a more easily distinguished indication of their presence, while on much-used slides the tracks could not be seen anywhere. It has been the writer's experience that in every case in which he observed the building of a new house by one of these animals, the builder was invariably a female providing for a happy family event.
THE BADGER
ON our continent there is no other animal which is responsible for so many broken necks and limbs as the badger. While in pursuit of his prey, he digs holes in the ground, which when grown over with weeds or grass, are almost certain death-traps for the unwary rider.
The man who enjoys riding after wolves or the fox considers the badger as a menace, and is never likely to look upon it with any degree of favor, notwithstanding its decided usefulness as a destroyer of undesirable rodents. I myself bit the dust of the prairie four times within a couple of months on account of this animal, though there was no further damage than a broken gunstock and sore limbs. I have since killed everyone of the tribe when a chance offered, though with some feeling of regret on account of their desirable features.
The track of the badger is striking from the prominence of the five-nail marks of the forefeet and the twisted inward appearance of the hind track which usually stands squarely in the front track. Considering the size of the tracks, the step-marks stand close together—about seven inches—and, as in all animals of this group, to some extent off from the center line.
BADGER