The signpost reads:

Multimedia - Movies and Sounds.

A badger among us.

Badger photographs.

My favorite Meles.

Badger drawings - Surviving Artists Sale.

Collectible badgers - stuff.

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(711 kb) This is a short clip of a badger showing his appreciation for amateur naturalists. Think about this before you stomp into the woods with your Cannon looking for a badger. Video credit to Marty Stouffer's Wild America, and King World Direct. I attempted to contact Marty for more footage, but if this is the last scene he shot...well...it explains why he can't be reached.

(863 kb) Here's all you're ever likely to see of a badger. And for this much, you've got to wander out into the prairie after dark with a flashlight. Been nice knowin' ya! ibid.

(6 mb) American badgers are generally very solitary animals. Witness what happens when one badger tries to move in next door to another. Video credit to Animal Planet.

(24 mb) This is a segment from an Australian nature program. Eurasian badgers are wrangled into butterfly nets and innoculated. The poor fellows are so scared, one piddles on the vet, and two more do a Laurel & Hardy routine getting back into the sett.

(4 mb) This is the American version. Another keeper releasing an...um...an American badger back into the wild. Yeah, that's what it is. You absolutely must view the segment above to appreciate the humor. Credit to Universal pictures.

(41 mb) Send the cubs into the next room! Here are a pair of Eurasian badgers doing what badgers do...repeatedly. Your children are securely protected from anything that might actually enlighten or educate them (like badgers goin' at it) by the AdultCheck verification service. (Hey, sign up and I get a cut!) Original video presented with permission by Derek Conway.

(4 mb) This is a clip of Badge at home, sent to me by Badge's owner. See more about Badge below.

How would you like to hear this outside your tent one night? The sound of badgers in .WAV format. One clip is of English badgers, the other is American. Isn't the accent obvious?

Badger Stars:

(214 kb) The most exciting scene from the 1992 film "Thunderheart", at least from our point of view. This is also a very good instructional video on how to "hand feed" a badger. (Kids, don't try this at home.) Video credit to Paramount Pictures.

(2 mb) From those future asylum residents Trent and Trey, and from the Island of Misfit Mascots, it's "Happy, the 'don't do stuff that might irritate your inner-ear' badger". From the "South Park" episode, "Sexual Harrasment Panda". (You'll just have to see for yourself.) Video credit to Comedy Central.

(3 mb) The Simpsons, specifically Homer, meet a badger. This clip demonstrates exactly what not to do when you find a badger in your doghouse.

(4 mb) And here's the ultimate fate of Springfield. Never mess with cartoon badgers. All clips are reproduced without the express permission of The FOX Network, Matt Groenig (pronounced gray-ning), or the National Football League.

Other Badgers:

From The Happy Schnapps Combo CD titled Raise It, here is a clip from On Da Badger. I highly recommend the CD, even to those who wouldn't know a bubbler from a brat. For firm evidence that their music captures the Wisconsin polka experience: you have to order the CD from Van's Liquor, 3920 Calumet Avenue, Manitowoc, WI 54220 (414)682-6911 (414)684-6613. If The Bears Still Suck Polka doesn't make you laugh so hard that Blatz shoots out your nose, I'll treat you to a pound of lutefisk.

Did you know you can cross Lake Michigan on The Badger? The S.S. BADGER – STEAMER “43”, that is. The best part is: you don't have to go through Illinois! Click on the picture to see the ship of which the Schnappers sing, or on the icon above to hear the .WAV file. It's included here only partially because the ship is named after our favorite mustelidae. "The Lake Michigan Carferry Service at Ludington, Michigan, operates scheduled service between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The massive hold of the 410 ft. steamship that once carried railroad cars, now transports passenger vehicles. It is a fun and fascinating voyage across Lake Michigan. S.S. Badger – 410 ft. length, width 59 ft., draft 18 ft., 7,000 horsepower coal-fired steam engines, cruising speed 18 MPH." Photo credits to John Penrod.

O.K., here it is. It's what you've been waiting for. Admit it. I just hope that you can get it out of your system, so I can stop hearing about it. From "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre".Credit to Warner Bros.

See video footage of Badge above.

Taxidea Taxus. What a noble profile. The prizes of my small photo collection.

There is a common misconception that badgers and coyotes hunt cooperatively. This is not quite accurate. The coyote is more of an opportunist. When the badger starts excavating towards the south end of a north-bound prairie dog, the coyote loiters around the emergency exits of the city. When the prairie dogs start cranking the air-raid siren, the coyote gets a free meal. There's no advantage for the badger, though.

Well, apparently there's no disadvantage to having coyotes around, either.

For any animal except the badger (and, possibly, the mongoose) this photo would spell danger. In this photo, it only means lunch for the badger. A badger's hide is so tough and loose-fitting that a snake bite frequently can't penetrate it. When it does, the snake usually only injects the venom between the hide and flesh. Entering the bloodstream at a much more gradual pace, the badger is not in danger. Rattlesnake is a particular favorite of the badger.

Here are a pair of badgers which appear to be held in captivity. I suspect they hang around the zoo for the free food. After all, how do you keep an animal that can tunnel through concrete in captivity? These two are currently incarcerated at the Green Bay Municipal Zoo and the Vilas Park Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin, respectively.

Three fat guys. Obviously a radio station. Probably Becky the Badger, University of Wisconsin Football mascot. Maybe a little too much beer and bratwurst all around?

Meles Meles, the European badger. It's hard to believe this gentle, shy creature is related to the ferocious taxidea taxus. Ah well, he is English, after all. The more I think about it, the more I come to believe that badger behavior correlates to human behavior on the same continent. Think about the social, dignified behavior of Meles meles and the ferocious, independent behavior of Taxidea taxus. Hmm? (The editor of this Web site would like to point out that this does not apply to Mydaus javanensis, the Indonesian stink badger. The author in no way intended to impugn the bathing habits of the Javanese. Besides which, he doesn't even know anyone from Indonesia.)

These pictures were provided by my main Meles^2 connection. Click on the thumbnail to see the larger picture. Click on the envelope to send my badgery benefactor letters of praise. His family of badgers eat from his hand, and frolic in his back yard. A scary thought here in the States, but very picturesque there. Many thanks to Derek and Louise for these original photographs.

Drawing of badger. Not my drawing, I'm afraid. Just a clip from an encyclopedia. Sometimes they have to use drawings, because the badgers keep eating the cameramen.

Poisonous Aluminum Badger. The masthead of a rock band. Now defunct, I believe. I kept the image because the band's initials are the same as mine. So sue me. It's cute.

The closely guarded logo and mascot of the University of Wisconsin: Bucky the Badger. Even thinking about using this little fellow attracts slowly circling lawyers. I guess it's the burden of every great animal to suffer the caricature of mediocre sports teams.

The caption of this cartoon is "Badgers are very territorial." Well...we are, you know.

And did you ever wonder what badgers drink? Here's the answer, sort of.

Figurines:

It's a figurine collection. What can I say about these? Well, from left to right there's St. George, Antonio, the cubs: Huey, Dewey and Louie, Nigel, the twins: Caster & Pollox, Peter, Deirdre & Gwendolyn, The Band and Scratch & Angelica. Yeeeaaaaah, maybe I'm a little too attached to the collection.

Fetishes:

The Labradorite badger at the far left is the prize of the collection. The sparkle just barely shows in photographs. Alas, it's only around his rump. No comments from the dachsunds!

Plushes:

Notice that there are only two American badgers here? That's because no one makes them! You can find more stuffed duck-billed platypi than American badgers. Don't get me started...

Alcohol-related:

There's no shortage of alcoholic products associated with badgers. I'm going to let that go without comment.

These three pictures are of a decanter. The unbroken seal shows that it contains some sort of alcohol. Is it after-shave? Whiskey? I have no idea. If you know who manufactured it or what collection it's part of, please contact me.

The interesting story behind the "Rose Bowl" can, is that they were pulled after only two month's production. The University of Wisconsin couldn't have its mascot associated with an alcoholic beverage. Yeah, right. Ever been to a Badger game?

One more thing worth note: Compare the American "Badger Beer" to the British version at right. Apparently, even getting sloppy-faced is snootier in England! And that "1777" on the label doesn't intimidate me: our badgers have been producing something very similar to English beer for millenia. Smells like English beer, too.

And a bar mirror. I'm out.

Other:

Incontrovertible proof that I will collect anything with a badger on it.