european badger

The badger is quite an elusive animal. I’ve occasionally seen them trotting along the road at night. They are usually represented in stories as a more steady and grounded character than the wily fox. It seems to have been a remarkably long time before anyone could describe them in a way which we would recognise. Did they have long legs or short legs? Just what shade of yellow were their ears? Pliny tells us that a badger, when alarmed, could inflate its skin in a way that made it impervious to all attacks. I doubt the truth of this, but I don’t plan to alarm a badger any time soon.

This badger is not at all perturbed. It is just going about its badgery business. It is seven inches (18 cm) high, including the plinth and around seven and a half inches (19 cm) nose to tail. It is supported by a wire armature and shaped from local fleece Its coat is made from Merino wool.

The great thing about working on these larger animals is that I can add extra details like longer fur and big claws for digging.