Badger
Basics: Sometimes
called rodents and often called terrifying, the badger can be found
in many parts of the world as a thriving part of the new ecology.
Once content to forage and scavenge when possible, badgers have
become more aggressive and violent as competition for food increased
after the environmental collapse ruined their habitats. Badgers are
larger than their predecessors and prone to attack solitary humans on
sight. Rivalry for territory has all but broken the previous clan
nature of badgers; most are solitary and extremely territorial.
Survival: The best way
to live through a badger attack is to never travel alone. Because
most badgers hunt by themselves, they are loathe to pick fights with
groups. Even a single person with a hunting dog or beast of burden
will usually be too much a badger, at least at first sight. Badgers
are known to stalk prey, however. That same person might walk up one
morning to find their animal(s) savaged at the edge of camp.
If you have to fight a
badger, remember that everything dangerous is all up front. Never
take a badger head on as their front claws are extremely sharp and
their bite is capable of tearing through body armor if it gets a good
enough hold. Badgers are also mostly impervious to pain. Never try
to drive one off. A fight with a badger only ends with something
dying.
Uses: Badger meat is
fairly awful but edible. Always cook or boil it thoroughly as badgers
are often heavily diseased and carry some of the wild’s worst ills.
Badger pelts are extremely hardy and retain a great deal of heat.
They make excellent harsh weather clothes.
Fun Fact: Before the
Exodus, badgers were often portrayed in stories as strong, wise
characters and even appeared in literature as sympathetic heroes. At
least one tribe of Drifters reveres the badger as their totem animal
and considers anyone wearing parts of a badger to be an enemy on
sight. This last bit would normally be in the Survival section but
if you have been spotted by a tribe of Drifters, you were probably
screwed already.
-By Duster One (AKA August Hahn)
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