Latin Texts & Translations

The badger, when alarmed, shows its fear by a different kind of artifice; inflating the skin, it distends it to such a degree, as to repel equally the blows of men and the bite of dogs. ^[Note] The squirrel, also, has the power of foreseeing storms,

and so, stopping up its hole at the side from which the wind blows, it leaves the other side open; besides which, the tail, which is furnished with longer hair than the rest of the body, serves as a covering for it. It appears, therefore, ^[Note] that some animals lay up a store of food for the winter, while others pass the time in sleep, which serves them instead of food.