Animal Profiles - Badgers
Eurasion Badger - Meles Meles
‘Brock’ the badger belongs to the weasel family that includes the otter, stoat, ferret, polecat and pine marten. Badgers live in most of Europe, where habitat conditions are suitable, but are in greatest numbers in Great Britain and Ireland, especially in southern Britain.
The name badger also means ‘digger’ in French. They are nocturnal animals and despite their size are quite elusive, being very at home underground. Badgers have small heads, small eyes, a thick short neck and long wedge-shaped body with a short tail. They average about 2’6”- 2’9” in length with a six-inch tail. Depending on the time of year and foodstuff available the males can weigh up to 15 kg, the females are slightly lighter in weight and size. When times are hard they can go down to as much as half this weight. The males are more easily recognisable by their broad heads and wider cheeks, although all people normally see is the back end of one disappearing at a surprising speed.
They are recognised by the prominent black and white striped face and they have a black chest and forepaws. Their topcoat is very thick and coarse and gives the appearance of being grey from a distance. It was common for their hair to be used to make shaving brushes; a few are still made this way. On rare occasions some badgers are found to have a genetic strain that causes them to be albino, black and even ginger. Another of their prominent features is their paws and claws. They have amazingly strong, large front feet with very long, thick, sharp claws. These enable them to dig for worms and grubs and also excavate their home.
Badgers live in a sett and this can be found in many different places although the ideal place is usually a slope, making it easier for excavating and moving earth, and is better drained soil. Many have setts in woodland where they have good cover. They may have several small setts within their territory, but usually occupy a main home comprising one entrance leading to a large chamber with several tunnels leading to other chambers and exits. They are very clean animals, are very fussy about their bedding and can often be seen dragging out old bedding and pulling fresh clean bedding down a tunnel.
Badgers live in small groups, numbering from as few as five to as many as a dozen. There is a dominant male and female and the rest of the group will consist of family members. There are usually more females than males. Some badgers may live a solitary life, but in groups the badgers are better able to defend their territory from intruders. In hard times their territories overlap in the search for food so the usual marking done by the dominant boar tends to cease while they are covering greater distances.
Visiting boars do get chances to mate with females (sows) and this helps prevent inbreeding. Young males often disperse singly when they are of breeding age but if young sows decide to seek out new territory then several sisters may go together, which enables them to displace a single sow from her territory with much more ease.
Badgers mate at any time of the year and can delay implantation, so that their pregnancy takes place in the winter months, enabling the cubs to be born between January and March. A litter usually consists of two or three cubs. The cubs are born blind, pink with silky white fur and are about four or five inches long, weighing about four ounces. Their eyes open at about five weeks of age although they cannot see fully as they remain underground for several more weeks. They generally start to appear on the surface towards the end of April, beginning of May. They are not usually fully weaned until about four months old. As with many animals that live in groups such as wolves, lions, meerkats, elephants, the other female family members will often help in the rearing of the young badgers, and this gives them vital practice for when they have their own young.
Badgers are omnivores; they eat both meat and plants. They are foragers rather than hunters and are great opportunists. They eat mostly earthworms (anyone who has had badgers digging for earthworms in their garden will know just how much damage they can do to a lawn), and this is when their wonderful front paws come into force. They also supplement their diet with insects, birds, small mammals, fruits and berries, cereals, and of course their favourite, peanuts. Badgers eat most heavily from September to November and the least quantity from December to February when they spend a lot of time underground sleeping. They do not hibernate; just take it easy during the coldest months!
If you wish to attract badgers to your garden they appreciate dog food, fruit, root vegetables, peanuts and raisins. Do give small amounts only as they should not be encouraged to depend on you for their main diet, it should only be a treat.
If you find an injured badger or one lying in clear view, please do not attempt to pick it up, they have a very fierce bite and could do serious injury with their teeth or claws. Please telephone our emergency no. 07817995751 or else 01598 740603 and we can come and help. Just monitor the badger and ensure any other animal or vehicle cannot hurt it.
