I tended to be a live-and-let-live kind of person, but I had been running for too long and I was getting decidedly short-tempered about it. I reacted on instinct, the same kind of reflex you get if a dog lunges for your leg. I jumped back, and as the animal continued to charge, I hauled off and kicked it. "Yipe," said the badger as it sailed over the deadfall, and "Ow, fuck!" said I, and "Oh shit," said my internal monitors. Or something to that effect.