The badger, a robust and stocky animal with a short, bushy tail, is a fascinating creature with unique dietary habits. Known for its comical walk due to its short legs and broad body, the badger's diet is as diverse as its habitat. This article delves into the dietary habits of badgers, exploring what they eat, how they hunt, and the ecological role they play.
Physical Characteristics and Habitat
The American badger (Taxidea taxus) is a North American badger similar in appearance to the European badger, although not closely related. The badger has long, shaggy fur with a very distinctive white stripe that extends from its nose to its shoulders. The badger's black feet each have five toes, and the front feet have long, thick claws an inch or more in length. Badgers have small eyes and ears and a slightly pointed nose. Their keen sense of smell is second only to that of members of the dog family. Measuring generally between 60 and 75 cm (23.5 and 29.5 in) in length, males of the species are slightly larger than females. They may attain an average weight of roughly 6.3 to 7.2 kg (14 to 16 lb) for females and up to 8.6 kg (19 lb) for males.
Badgers live in a variety of habitats, but they most commonly are found in open country such as prairies and plains. They avoid heavily wooded areas and habitats with rocky soils. They occur west of the Great Lakes region throughout the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. American badgers prefer grasslands and open areas with grasslands, which can include parklands, farms, and treeless areas with friable soil and a supply of rodent prey. They may also be found in forest glades and meadows, marshes, brushy areas, hot deserts, and mountain meadows. They are sometimes found at elevations up to 12,000 feet (3,700 m) but are usually found in the Sonoran and Transition life zones (which are at elevations lower and warmer than those characterized by coniferous forests).
General Dietary Habits
Badgers are opportunistic carnivores and will eat almost anything under the size of a woodchuck (groundhog). Badgers are omnivores and have a varied diet. Their main food source is rodents that they dig up. They also eat a variety of insects like earthworms and grubs, and they don’t shy away from lizards, snakes, and even scorpions. They don’t eat a lot of vegetation but do eat corn, beans, and fruit.
The American badger is mostly carnivorous with a diet consisting primarily of small mammals such as ground squirrels, rats, and gophers that they dig out of their burrows as well as rattlesnakes and other reptiles. They also eat ground-nesting birds like burrowing owls, insects, honey, some plant materials, and even mushrooms.
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Primary Food Sources
Badgers primarily eat small mammals such as ground squirrels, pocket gophers, prairie dogs and cottontail rabbits, but they also will consume birds, invertebrates and carrion. The American badger's habitat is typified by open grasslands with available prey (such as mice, squirrels, and groundhogs). Small burrowing mammals like ground squirrel, rats, gophers and mice make up most of the badger's diet. They are especially adept at capturing burrowing mammals such as woodchucks, ground squirrels, and gophers.
Hunting Techniques
Badgers are fossorial animals, which means they burrow underground. When excavating, badgers use their long, thick front claws to break fresh ground while their back legs kick out the excess dirt. They are known to dig faster than any mammal, including a man with a shovel. It digs its prey out of the ground with its strong, sharp claws. To capture prey, badgers give chase and then will burrow after their prey effectively trapping the animal. The badger will sometimes dig into the burrow of an animal and wait for it to return. Badgers use their claws to dig up rodents and have even been observed plugging up rodent holes to force their prey out.
Consumption of Reptiles and Insects
Badgers also eat rattlesnakes and, luckily for them, they are unaffected by the snake's venom unless they are struck on the nose. The urban myth that badgers can eat toxic animals is true. Badgers can eat animals that are considered venomous, including scorpions and snakes. The toxins in these animals do not seem to affect badgers. Insects provide variety to the badger’s diverse diet. Earthworms, grubs, and slugs are favorites.
Cooperation with Coyotes
While hunting burrowing animals, badgers are occasionally out-maneuvered by "wily" Coyotes. As badgers dig after rodents, Coyotes will wait and snatch the escaping prey above ground, leaving badgers with just a glimpse of what might have been for dinner. Badgers have been seen working with a coyote in tandem while hunting. Typically this pairing is one badger to one coyote; however, one study found about 9% of sightings included two coyotes to one badger, while 1% had one badger to three coyotes. Researchers have found that the coyote benefits by an increased catch rate of about 33%, and while it is difficult to see precisely how the badger benefits, the badger has been noted to spend more time underground and active. According to research, this partnership works due to the different hunting styles of the predators and how their prey reacts to them. A ground squirrel, upon spotting a coyote, will crawl into its hole to escape; while upon seeing a badger, the ground squirrel will climb out of its hole and use its speed to outrun the badger. When badgers locate prey underground and dig them out, coyotes chase down the prey. However, the coyotes are known to chase prey back into their den where the badger awaits, nabbing an easy meal. Badgers, with their short, stocky legs, are not fast runners, but the coyotes are quick and can nab the prey as it tries to get away. Recent studies have shown that badgers and coyotes both benefit from hunting together, with each species using its unique skills to increase their chances of catching prey.
Seasonal Variations and Food Storage
During the time of year when food is abundant, badgers can gain several pounds. It will sometimes bury extra food to eat later.
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Solitary Hunting and Social Behavior
Badgers usually are solitary creatures except when they breed late in the summer. Badgers are normally solitary animals but are thought to expand their territories in the breeding season to seek out mates. Badgers are solitary hunters, meaning they typically hunt alone rather than with other badgers.
Habitat and Prey Availability
American badger use of home range varies with season and sex. Different areas of the home range are used more frequently at different seasons and usually are related to prey availability. Males generally have larger home ranges than females. Within these areas, the availability of prey and a fresh water source are key factors for the preferred habitat areas and ability to survive. Where prey is particularly plentiful, they will reuse dens, especially in the fall, sometimes for a few days at a time.
Adaptations for Digging
American badgers possess morphological characteristics that enable them to be good fossorial specialists, such as a conical head, bristles on the ears, and nictitating membranes in the eyes. American badgers have powerful forelimbs. They also possess a strong humerus and large bony processes for the attachment of muscles. Badgers are highly specialized for digging. When burrowing, they use their large claws to dig into the soil leaving telltale scratch marks along the sides of the burrow.
Predators and Defense Mechanisms
While the American badger is an aggressive animal with few natural enemies, it is still vulnerable to other species in its habitat. Predation on juvenile specimens by golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), coyotes (Canis latrans) and bobcats (Lynx rufus) has been reported. The badger is well-protected from predators. Its muscular neck and thick, loose fur protect it when it is captured by a predator. This gives the badger time to turn on the predator and bite and claw it. When a badger is attacked, it also uses vocalizations. It hisses, growls, squeals and snarls.
Conservation Status
American badgers are trapped by humans for their pelts. In May 2000, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listed each of the subspecies Taxidea taxus jacksoni and T. t. jeffersonii as an endangered species in Canada. The nominate subspecies was additionally deemed to be of "Special Concern" in November 2012. As of 2014, overdevelopment of American badger habitat had resulted in reduced range, decreased prey, and forced badgers into contact with humans when foraging between fragments.
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