Badger They have black faces with distinctive white markings, grey bodies with a light-coloured stripe from head to tail, and dark legs with light-coloured underbellies. They grow to around in length including tail. The European badger is one of the largest; the American badger, the hog badger, and the honey badger are generally a little smaller and lighter. Stink badgers are smaller still, and ferret badgers smallest of all. They weigh around , with some Eurasian badgers around . The word "badger", originally applied to the European badger ("Meles meles"), comes from earlier "bageard" (16th century), presumably referring to the white
River Meles be subject to contradictory views among scholars and other concerned parties. Homer is connected with the valley of Smyrna and the banks of the Meles. His figure was one of the stock types on coins of Smyrna, one class of which showed the poet sitting, holding a volumen on his knees, and supporting his chin on his right hand was called "Homerian" by numismatists. The epithet "Melesigenes" (which means, "son of Meles" was applied to him. The cave where he was to compose his poems was described as being near the source of the river, his temple, the Homereion, stood