Perl Template Toolkit

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.

The animal on the cover of Perl Template Toolkit is a badger. The badger (Meles meles) is the largest member of the weasel family, and is found extensively throughout the northern hemisphere. Badgers are the best diggers of all carnivores, and can be found in the sandy or clay soils of dry open fields, parklands, and pastures where there are few large tree roots in their way as they dig.

Badgers are completely covered in gray or black fur except for on the head, where white stripes (or badges) run from the nose to the shoulders. Adult males can weigh as much as 26 pounds in autumn as, to prepare for winter, badgers tend to consume large amounts of food. Although they do not hibernate, badgers sleep in their burrows during winter and live off of their body fat.

The bones and muscles are large for an animal of the badger’s size. The forefeet are armed with long, wide claws for digging. The claws on the hind legs are short and shovel-like for scooping away dirt. The flattened body easily slips into small burrows. A badger can dig itself into a hole in a few minutes.

Badgers are nocturnal, foraging for food at night. They eat everything from earthworms, insects, fruits, and berries to squirrels, mice, rabbits, and snakes. If attacked ...