Badgers are generally caught in sacks fastened at night, when the animals are abroad in search of food, into the mouth of their burrows in the ground. When these are fixed, the animals are hunted home from the adjacent fields with dogs, and, on entering their usual places of retreat to escape from their foes, they are immediately seized and tied up in the sacks by men who are stationed at hand for that purpose. Badgers are also sometimes caught by steel traps placed in their haunts.
These animals subsist principally upon roots and other vegetable food, which they scratch and root out of the ground during the night. Their dens or burrows are generally formed in woody places, or the clefts of rocks. Though in almost every respect innoxious, they are endowed with such strength as successfully to oppose the attacks of animals apparently much more powerful than themselves.
65. The VIRGINIAN OPOSSUM (Didelphis opossum) is a whitish-coloured animal about the size of a small cat, but with feet somewhat like those of the monkey, slender muzzle, and scaly tail; the female has a pouch or bag on the under part of the body, in which she places her young ones, when very small, and where they afterwards find a place of retreat from danger.
This species of opossum are numerous in Virginia, Louisiana, Surinam, and other warm and temperate parts both of North and South America.
Notwithstanding the disgusting smell of these animals whilst alive, when dead and skinned, their flesh is as sweet and excellent as any other animal food. All the American travellers who have partaken of it appear to agree that it much resembles that of sucking pig. The hair, which is of considerable length, is spun, by the American Indians, into thread, dyed red, and then woven into girdles and other parts of dress.
66. The COMMON MOLE (Talpa europæa) is a small and well-known British quadruped of black colour, with broad fore feet, large head terminating in a slender snout, extremely small eyes, no external ears, and short tail.
In former times the skins of moles were in great esteem for many purposes both useful and ornamental. They were employed for the linings of winter garments, and for trimmings in several kinds of dress and were even made into coverlets for beds. At present, although, by a late invention, the down or fur, which is as soft as the finest velvet, has been adopted in the manufacture of hats, they are so little esteemed in this country that the mole-catchers in general can find no sale for them. The flesh of the mole is eaten in some countries, but the animals are too small to be used with any advantage as food.
Moles live only in burrows or galleries which they dig, under the surface of the earth, with their strong fore feet, and they are chiefly caught to prevent the injury which they are imagined to do to the farmer by throwing up the mould, in little hillocks, in different parts of his grounds. The mode of catching them is by traps placed in their galleries, by persons employed for that purpose, and who are paid for their trouble at a stipulated rate per dozen.
Moles feed on roots, worms, and the grubs or caterpillars of insects. They are generally considered to be both blind and deaf, but they possess every requisite organ both for sight and hearing: indeed their quickness of hearing is such that they take alarm, and seek for safety in flight, at even the most distant approach of danger.
Moles are believed, by some persons, to be useful and not injurious to the farmer. In cold clayey land their operations are supposed to have a tendency to drain the soil, and to be beneficial in communicating air to the roots of plants; they are also thought to be serviceable by raising fresh mould upon grass-land, and feeding on the grubs of several kinds of insects which subsist on the roots of the grass.