The Tale of Benny Badger

MP3 Audio CD. The Tale of Benny Badger

I

A GREAT DIGGER


Of course, Benny Badger had the best of reasons for living on the high,
dry plains. There he had for neighbors plenty of ground squirrels and
prairie dogs. And it is likely that he enjoyed their company much more
than they did his.

If anyone had asked them, those little wild people would no doubt have
confessed that they wished Benny Badger was somewhere else. But their
wishes meant nothing to Benny--if he knew anything of them. Although he
couldn't help noticing that his small neighbors hurried into their homes
whenever they caught sight of him, Benny never took the hint and went
away. On the contrary, when he spied a prairie dog or a ground squirrel
disappearing into his burrow Benny was more than ready to go right in
after him.

Now, the tunnels that led to the houses of those smaller folk were too
small to admit anybody as bulky as Benny Badger. But that difficulty
never hindered Benny. Digging was the easiest thing he did. He had a
powerful body, short, stout legs, and big feet, which bore long, strong
claws. And when he started to dig his way into somebody else's home he
certainly did make the dirt fly.

He was so fond of digging that he even dug countless holes of his own,
just for the fun it gave him--so far as anybody could find out. And if
he had only left other folk's holes alone some of his neighbors would
not have objected to his favorite sport. For more than one fox and
coyote had been known to make his home in a hole dug by Benny Badger.
And, though they never took the trouble to thank him for saving them
work, they often chuckled about his odd way of having fun, and remarked
among themselves that Benny must be a stupid fellow.