Today I had the great joy of taking my two grandaughters to a small private zoo that also had a large petting zoo inside. As an adjunct to the zoo they offered a "train" trip through their many acres of woods. Along the way were various animal displays showcasing the animals native to our state. While the kids were excited by everything I was sitting there, cramped into the small space, hoping that we would get to view a badger.
Being the state animal they apparently felt obliged to have one on exhibit and our train stopped by the enclosure at the very end of our safari. The trainer who had accompanied us on the train providing descriptions of each display went into the fenced area and picked up the badger bringing it to within two feet of us for our viewing.
The silver tip hair is very much evident and grows down the middle of the back appearing to follow the spine and no more than an inch wide. I am assuming that this particular specimen was just your average badger but I am sure that the amount of this hair will vary from one animal to the next.
I wish that I had had the opportunity to pet the animal so as to judge the difference in feel between the silver stripe and the adjoining brown hair. With the exception of the underbelly that had shorter lighter hair the rest of the badger was pretty much brown and not a light brown at that. I would have to guess that there maybe was enough silver tip hair on this specimen animal to make maybe two large knot brushes, certainly no more than that. When you see the amount of silver hair available you have to question the authenticity of the large population of "silver tip" brushes out there in the marketplace.
The Asian badgers may have a larger area of silver tip, I don't know but I do know that our native version could not produce a whole lot of the coveted silver tips.
John
Wisconsin Safari
Wisconsin Safari
John V
"What one relishes, nourishes"
Benjamin Franklin
"What one relishes, nourishes"
Benjamin Franklin
-
English
John,
I nearly ran over a badger on a very quiet country road in England.
It was late at night and the creature was out hunting food. It was big and beautiful. If I'd hit it, I'd have felt terrible because they are quite rare. Incidentally, it had a couple of black stripes on a white head but the rest looked black. Didn't see the potential for a brush and I doubt it would have been wanting to play ball. It moved very quickly. It looked quite a dangerous creature that could give you a nasty bite. Still I'm privaledged to have seen one in the flesh if only for a fleeting moment.
I nearly ran over a badger on a very quiet country road in England.
It was late at night and the creature was out hunting food. It was big and beautiful. If I'd hit it, I'd have felt terrible because they are quite rare. Incidentally, it had a couple of black stripes on a white head but the rest looked black. Didn't see the potential for a brush and I doubt it would have been wanting to play ball. It moved very quickly. It looked quite a dangerous creature that could give you a nasty bite. Still I'm privaledged to have seen one in the flesh if only for a fleeting moment.