Thursday, March 31, 2011

So why "The Broken Badger?"

When we first bought our property in Bickleton, we went exploring.  We had fallen in love so instantly with the property when we first saw it, that we bought it before we explored it much (shoot, 3 years later there are still areas I've never seen....)  We travelled all the roads and walked some of the property lines.  Traversed the fields and crossed the draws.  Wait... what is that?  We found 3 large holes.  Two in the forested draws and one ontop of a mound in the field.  They were burrow like and about 8-10 inches across.  I have no idea how deep they were, as there was no way I was getting close enough to find out!!  Who knows what could be down there.  Well, after some research and talking to the locals, we have come to the conclusion that it must be badgers.




Badgers are mean.  I mean, they are just trying to get along, just like the rest of us, but they happen to do it in a rather fiesty way.  Which is exactly why we will try to give them a wide berth.  Luckily, they tend to have a very wide range and will go from burrow to burrow as they range.  Unless this guy spend winter in one of the burrows on our property, s/he will probably only be with us a few times a year.  Our biggest badger concern revolves around the dog.  As fate would have it, we have a dachshund.  They were originally bred to go after badgers.  Great.  Of course, our little baby is a mini-dachshund, so she is much smaller than the standard 20 plus pound dog that is the true badger dog.  But don't tell her that!  She thinks she is a 300 pound guard dog - and a hunter.  She will stick her nose into any little hole in the yard trying to get ahold of whatever rodent may have been in there.  It's her job, it's in her blood, it's what she does. 

On to the name "Broken Badger."  Since badgers are always on our minds when we are at the property, it should come as no surprise that I would start naming things after them.  We have been periodically working on a cabin up there for the last couple years.  One of the times that Woody was diligently banging away on the cabin, I went a'wandering.  When I looked back at the cabin, it just struck me - its name is The Broken Badger.  (Yes - I often have these random "this is how it is" thoughts.)  I began to have images of our friends from town saying, "Hey, let's go see Shae and Woody up at the Broken Badger!"  Okay, that might be pushing it, but still, the cabin has a name!




The Broken Badger