Ah, what a week, fellow readers and deniers. The Boxing Circus that began the previous week continued this past week, with the match once again changing format, this time into a free-for-all (“rumble”), as Tad Crass pressed his aim to humiliate the man trying to undermine his land-grab scheme; the same man he illogically invited to participate in this Woodsman Olympics and provide an opportunity for the land-grab plan to be exposed: That man is Mark Trail. All in all, this doesn’t seem like a well-thought out scheme, like showing up at a Taylor Swift concert and expecting to buy a ticket at the door.
Anyway, acting referee and moderator, Tad Crass, seems to be making this up as he goes along. His erratic changes are intended to demonstrate an increasing pressure to humiliate Mark in public. Instead, Mark and Cliff (remember him…?) changed their own strategy. They made their way around the rink to where Crass was standing. Then, in an amazing display of “in plain sight maneuvering,” Mark plucked Crass’ microphone off a lectern and began to incite the boxers to stop their fighting. Tad and Mark jostled each other for the microphone, as Mark revealed Tad’s aim to steal secret plans for egg salad . . . oops, sorry, wrong plot. Mark revealed how this Olympic event was just part of a plan to help Tad grab some the land originally intended for the solar farm project.
We don’t know what the reaction of the fighters or the public was, as Tad persuaded Mark to step into his office for a quiet talk. What will take place therein? Not sure, but it most likely will entail some attempt to buy Mark off.
Moving on to the nature subject du jour, at least we see Mark wearing a more tasteful hat. The idea that badgers and coyotes sometimes hunt together was interesting news. However, in spite of the “19 mph” legend in panel 5, that badger does not look like it is doing anything more than taking a walk. I expected to see just a bit more effort on its part! Badgers also exist around the world. In England, the badger is famously known as a character in the delightful book, “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame. You can paste that last bit of info over the insipid dialog in the last panel.
The Daily Trail 
“Sometimes they team up with coyotes as hunting buddies.”
I had not heard of this, except in the context of a (very) short-lived superhero comic crossover, “Coyote Meets Badger.” Coyote was a Marvel (Epic) Comics superhero based on the “Trickster” character from Native American legend, while Badger was a First Comics character and the unofficial state superhero of Wisconsin. If I recall correctly (we’re talking mid-1980s here), the story in “Coyote Meets Badger” was that the two title characters sat around drinking beer while their girlfriends dealt with the bad guys.
I wonder if Jules knows anything about this…
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I’ve checked several animal websites and they report that the badger and coyote sometimes hunt rodents in close proximity to each other with the coyote waiting at exit holes as the badger burrows, suggesting the they are working together.
However, Animaldiversity.org is a bit more cautious: It suggests coyotes are exploiting the badger’s work, even when the badger benefits from any rodents fleeing the coyote. The fact that the badger does not immediately run away from the coyote suggests some kind of implicit truce is in place, like we find at watering holes in the Kalahari Desert.
Otherwise, coyotes look on badgers the same way Wile E. Coyote sees the Road Runner, but with better success.
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