Rena Scheck,    age 14, of Bennington, Vt., for her question:

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO "BADGER" A PERSON?

The badger is a digging member of the weasel family. The animal gets its name from the "badge," or markings on its face. The American badger has a narrow white stripe that runs between its eyes onto its back while the badger of Europe and Asia has black markings on its cheeks and forehead.

People once used badgers for a cruel sport called "badger baiting." They placed a badger in a barrel and sent a brave dog after it. The dog would lunge at the badger and bite it. The expression "to badger," which means "to tease in an unkind manner," comes from this practice. Fortunately, badger baiting is now illegal.

The American badger lives in the United States and Canada. It is usually found on the open plains, prairies and deserts of the West.

The badger hunts by night and sleeps by day. In winter, it may spend the coldest weather sleeping in its den. If approached away from its den, a badger will run and hide. If cornered, it will fight savagely and courageously.

Badgers dig out mice, gophers, ground squirrels and other small animals. They live on the flesh of these small animals.