The power of the short, thick and slightly bowed foreleg of the badger is tremendous. The claws are stout and fully an inch long. The animal is able to break up and remove at a scoop, the baked, claylike loess of the Columbian Plateau. Clods of this same material are so firm that only by twisting and exerting considerable power was I able to break them. The soil a foot beneath the sunbaked crust is softer and more easily worked.
It is difficult to estimate the size of badger populations. In the arid land of eastern Washington their diggings may exist almost unchanged for many years. Interviews with professional trappers serve to indicate their range and numbers as follows: southeastern edge of the Cascades and Yakima Valley, not common, rarely straying up into mountains—average trapper's catch, only one to three a year; Okanogan Valley and northeastern edge of Cascades, not common—average trapper's catch is six to ten a year, occasional trappers catching as many as 35; Columbia, Kettle River, and other valleys in northeastern Washington, uncommon, a few records only; Columbian Plateau, fairly common—average professional trapper's yearly catch includes 10 to 20 badgers; southeastern Washington, now rare because of overtrapping, formerly common.
Trappers state that the badgers taken in northeastern Washington are usually classified as "hair badger" by fur buyers and bring only a dollar or two. The badgers of the eastern Cascades are "fur" badgers but do not bring top prices. The badgers of the Columbian Plateau bring the best prices. Seemingly some geographic variation exists among badgers in Washington. Those from the more humid areas of northeastern Washington and the eastern Cascades are darker and bring poorer prices than the paler "silver" badgers of the more open desert areas.
The principal food of the badger in Washington seems to be ground squirrels, Citellus washingtoni, townsendii, columbianus, or saturatus, depending on locality. Pocket mice, gophers, and other mammals are also eaten, as are grasshoppers, sword-tailed crickets, other insects, and birds.
Young of badgers number 3 to 5 and are born in late April, May, or early June.
Vulpes fulva cascadensis [Merriam]
Red fox
Vulpes cascadensis [Merriam], Proc. Washington Acad. Sci., 2:665, December 28, 1900.
Vulpes fulvus cascadensis [Bailey], N. Amer. Fauna, 55:281, August 29, 1936.
Type.—Obtained at Trout Lake, Klickitat County, Washington, by P. Schmid on March 3, 1898; type in United States National Museum.