sweasel.com

I had no idea that baby badgers were so adorable. Too bad they grow up to be such onery cusses!

I need to read Wind in the Willows again. I like the fairy tale better than reality.

Mink exist for one reason and one reason only…to be made into coats to keep me warm.

@Armybrat – What I’d really like is a PETA skin coat. Mink lined, of course.

Does this badger make my ascot look particularly fey?

I remember my grandfather saying that once a dog starts chasing deer it will never stop doing that and has to be put down.

Badger babies! I wonder how soon their natural temperament will show up. Look at those little paws!

This morning I spied a large gray fox trotting across the thicket that is my back yard, and this afternoon I saw the largest raccoon that I have ever seen in person, taking the same stroll. It’s along the deer path—must be the animal freeway.

Hand reared badgers aren’t bad tempered! We’ve seen rescue badgers that were downright cuddly. They’re hell on the furniture, though.

Undulating mink? Are you sure this isn’t the rarely seen reciprocating ocelot?

The people on the corner had to have their dog put down. It got out one night and was worrying sheep (a serious offense here) and when his master went to collect him, he went for his master. Dude had to fend it off with a flashlight.

Reminds me of Ernest Thompson Seton’s “Wully, the Story of a Yaller Dog,” in his Wild Animals I Have Known. Rather a creepy story, almost a werewolf tale. Wully, who appears to be the perfect house and sheep dog, is going out by night and killing other farmers’ sheep — he has a secret life!

Could have been a twerking marten.

Or an epileptic ermine.

Belly-dancing Badger?

We’ve seen rescue badgers that were downright cuddly.

I hope so — wild badgers are not only foul tempered, they are extremely territorial.

I came across one whilst driving the back roads of eastern Washington. It was crossing the road, but stopped when it saw me coming. The creature sat there, in the middle of the road, glaring at me, for being crass enough to use the road at such an inconvenient time.

I drove around the hairy speed bump; I expected it to attack my rig if I passed over it. As it was, the badger tracked me as I went past, clearly anticipating an assault on it’s royal person.

I trust that Uncle Badger is much better behaved than that.

I’ve got some of Seton’s books queued up to read, Wolfus.

Ah, JeffS — ‘Merkin badgers. Something else entirely. Spot the difference: Eurasian badger, American badger.

I believe that Eurasian chap was a badger we knew personally.

IIRC (and I will check), all the shar pei in the world are descended from the bare handful of Chinese pets that were not eaten during the glorious communist revolution.

They were fighting dogs. The kind with loose baggy skin in wrinkles so they can turn around in their skin and bite the shit out of you even if you think you have them grabbed up.

Hubby had a shar pei cross that was the best dog he ever had. Intelligent, protective, and discerning. Would love up any sweet child who reached into the car window to pet him, but turned into Cujo when absolutely appropriate.

My neighbors were trying to explain to me the difference between otter dogs and mink dogs. I still can’t work out if they were shitting me.

Dog people.

Yes, Madame Sweasel, that ‘Merkin badger in the photo looks very familiar. The one I saw back when didn’t snarl, but it didn’t have to. That Glare Of Death™ was sufficient unto itself.

Interesting that it’s Eurasian cousin is less aggressive. Or at least can be tamed.

Check out Badger Magoo on youtube. He’s a badger raised from a kit by an animal rehabilitator.

Did somebody say badger?