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Show BADGERS USEFUL IN KILLING SMALL RODENTS "More sinned against than sinning" is the verdict of those who have given careful study to the hobits of the badger. As a rule badgers are killed on sight because of popular prejudice, which charges that they catch poultry, kill lambs, and are a danger to horses, which may step into their burrows and if running may break their legs. All these charges have some foundation founda-tion in fact but are not fairly balanced bal-anced against the good the badgers do. Vernon Bailey, of the Biological Survey, United States department of Agriculture, who has studied the animals, ani-mals, says that the badger "unquestionably "unques-tionably is one of the leats harmful and most completely beneficial of the native mammals." The badger spends a good share of its time from early spring until late autiumn diging out ground squirrels, pocket gophers, mice and other small rodents. The prey of the the badgers in the aggregate ag-gregate do untold damage to the crops of the country. Some states have recognized the value of the badger and extend to it the protection of the law, but Br. Bailey comments that a "protection through popular sentiment based on a full knowledge of its useful habits would be more effective than a legal statute not well enforced." Only recently re-cently have badger skins come into general use as fur. Although desirable desir-able because ,of durability, warmth, and attractive appearance, when prime "the skins are certainly worth more,' this observer believes, "when worn by the badger than when made into robes, coats or muffs." |