The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-10-25
REFLECTIONS OF JOSIAH ROOSE.
WELT, BADGER.

Josiah" Roosevelt poked his nose out
between the bars of his cage at the Zoo
at Bronx park.
q say" he said, isn't this ridiculous
I, a recognized member Of the president
household, to be Gagged up here like a
beastly curiosity. Why. only few DAYS
ago l had the entree to Sycamore HILL
Now 1 am penned in here to be gazed
at in wonderment by a throng of peo-
pie, who say / look like all sorts of queer
things. Why, one man this afternoon
said l was a taxidea Americana II
really disturbed me until heard him ex-
plain to another man that he meant L
was an American badger. The other man
knew lot about my instincts and habits,
but he hadn't read so many books as the
one who called me the long name.
I'D like to know why l couldn't go 10
the White House as well as the other
pets of the presidents family. Now,
look at Alan. the skye terrier. which Mr..
Roosevelt calls the perfectly ridiculous
dog He's twice as wild as / am.
There were two other dogs. friends Of
Alan. at oyster Bay. which I used 10
have a lot of fun in teasing. When Quen-
tin picked me up in his arms and put me
in a box to bring me here the three dogs
barked win delight Their joy was an
noying of course but l had the satisfac-
ton of hearing all the rest of the family
say they were sorry to have me go. They
all declared that they would come and
see me, SO you tell them where / am.
up here near the puma yard, opposite
the manual house.
It's pretty lonesome here. You seq.
my next door neighbor is the Europeq1
badger and he doesn't speak English.
There's not much room to move around.
either. although I'm only twenty-foJr
inches long. / wish they would give me
pile of dirt and then I could make my
own burrow. That is what / used to live
in out in Kansas. where 1 was born.
Il had a fine time there digging into
the ground and chasing prairie dogs ana
rabbits. One day I got into a trap and
a little girl took me to her home. Later
she gave me to Mr.. Roosevelt.
Il suppose I'll make friends here soon.
There's the Margay cat over there. 1t
sleeps most of the time. I growled pleas
antly at it this morning. but it only
opened one eye and dozed off again.
Then there's the white raccoon dog.
1t walks up and down in front of the
bars all day and doesn't stop long enough
for me to introduce myself. I feel sort
Of bashful about talking to the animals
anyhow. Whenever I call to them some
one looks at me and says: What a queer
noise it makes
If you've got any snails. rats or even
birds eggs and bees nests l wish you
send them to me. OF course. get pleu-
ty to eat here. but I'd like little of my
home food once in a while.
4 hope the winter will so quickly. as
understand that 1 am to go back u
Sycamore Hill next summer There are
a lot of fine holes out there that dug.
II the gardener finds them and fills thern
up l won't care a bit. Ny claws ar
long and sharp and I can have fun dig
ging new ones
Cold weather bother me? Never. I've
got a good coat of fur and can keep warm
easily. When some lady is wearing me
her neck she'll knew how com
fortably I fell when the snow fell.
Well. goodbye. Come and see IT,,
again. and bring your friends. But tell
them I'm not half so bad as look and
not to call me names"