Bucky the Badger is of course a ferocious fighting beast
(actually a true story: the original live mascot was too vicious
to control! and besides that American badgers are carnivores
that prey on everything from pocket gophers to woodchucks to
ground-nesting birds), but a little while ago I came across a
tidbit of badger natural history that would make them seem to
have a soft side. I found this in a 1954 book titled The Animal
Kingdom: The Strange And Wonderful Ways Of Mammals, Birds,
Reptiles, Fish And Insects. The book calls this story "A
Remarkable Badger 'Funeral'": The badgers have few natural
enemies, and many live out the normal life span of ten years.
They probably die in an underground chamber, which is then
sealed off by other tenants of the badger "earth." There is even
on record one remarkable instance of a badger "funeral." The
event--it took place in England--was witnessed by Brian Vesey-
Fitzgerald in 1941. A female badger was seen excavating a large
hole in an abandoned rabbit warren. Her effo