American Badger Facts – California NatureMapping

American Badger (Taxidea taxus)
Species Code: M160

Description:

The Badger is a brown fur-covered mammal with short legs and low profile. The
head appears pointed and small for the body. They have short ears and a short,
furry tail.

Badgers weigh 4 to 12 kg. The body is flattened, and the legs
are short and stocky. The fur on the back and flanks of the animal ranges from
grayish to reddish. The ventrum is a buffy color. The face of the badger is
distinct. The throat and chin are whitish, and the face has black patches.
A white dorsal stripe extends back over the head from the nose (see photo).

Range / Habitat:

Badgers are found primarily in the Great Plains region of North America. Badgers
occur north through the central western Canadian provinces, in appropriate habitat
throughout the western United States, and south throughout the mountainous areas
of Mexico (source: Animal Diversity Web).

Badgers prefer to live in dry, open grasslands, fields, and pastures. They
are found from high alpine meadows to sea level.

Badgers occur in open habitats in eastern Washington including semi-desert,
sagebrush, grassland, meadows, and grassy bald spots on high ridge tops. They
can be present in open forest (primarily Ponderosa Pine) with grassy ground
cover.

Click the range map to learn more about the

distribution of Badgers in Washington.

Diet:

Badgers are carnivorous (meat eater). They eat a variety of small animals, including
pocket gophers, ground squirrels, moles,
marmots, prairie dogs, woodrats, kangaroo rats, deer mice, and voles. They also
eat insects and birds.

Behavior:

Badgers are solitary animals who are mainly active at night. They tend
to be inactive during the winter months. They are not true hibernators, but
spend much of the winter in cycles of torpor that usually last about 29 hours.
(topor: a state of motor and mental inactivity with a partial suspension of
sensibility.)

Badgers are known to be excellent digging machines. Their powerfully built
forelimbs allow them to tunnel rapidly through the soil and other substrates.
They construct underground burrows for protection and sleeping. A typical badger
den may
be as far a 3 meters below the surface, contain approximately 10 meters of
tunnels and an enlarged sleeping chamber. Badgers use multiple burrows within
their home range.

If threatened, they attack explosively with hissing, growling and biting.

Reproduction:

Mating occurs in late summer or early autumn but embryos are arrested early
in development. Development of the zygote pauses at the blastocyst stage, usually
for about 10 months, until environmental conditions (day length and temperature)
are appropriate for implantation in the uterus. Implantation is delayed until
December or as late as February. After this period embryos implant into the
uterine wall and resume development. Although a female is technically pregnant
for 7 months, the actual gestation is only 6 weeks. Litters of 1 to 5 offspring,
with an average of 3, are born in early spring. Females are able to mate when
they are as young as 4 months old, but males do not mate until the autumn of
their second year. Most females mate after their first year. (Photo courtesy of Natures Pics)

Female badgers prepare a grass-lined den before giving birth. Badgers are
born blind and helpless with only a thin coat of fur. The eyes of the youngsters
open at 4 to 6 weeks old. The young are nursed by their mother until they
are 2 to 3 months old. The cubs (young badgers) may emerge from the den as
early as 5 to 6 weeks old. Juveniles disperse at 5 to 6 months (source: Animal
Diversity Web).

Did you know?

• Badgers have keen vision, scent, and hearing.
• Badgers have lived to be 26 years old in captivity.
• American badgers are solitary; European badgers are sociable.
• Badgers are good at digging burrows.
• Badgers help to control rodent populations.

Badger photo by Tim Knight

More information: American
Badger –
Animal Diversity Web

Shefferly, N. 1999. “Taxidea taxus” (On-line), Animal Diversity
Web. Accessed June 13, 2008 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Taxidea_taxus.html.

Eurasian badger:

Eurasian
badger (Meles meles) – Animal Diversity Web

Badgerland (UK)

More photos: Badger Photos on the Wildlife Web