American Badger

Taxidea taxus

Description

A member of the weasel family, the American badger is gray, white and black with stripes on its cheeks and one stripe down the middle of the face to the back. American badgers can weigh from 10-40 lbs and grow to 35 inches long.

Habitat

Badgers are found in soils that they can dig burrows. They prefer prairie-type habitat. The range of the badger has expanded as a result of land use by humans.

Feeding Behavior and Diet

Their diet consists mostly of burrowing rodents but they will also eat snakes, lizards and insects. Their strong legs and long claws are perfect for digging squirrels and gophers out of their burrows. Any food that is not eaten is stored in a cache for later.

Reproduction

American badgers are solitary mammals that breed in the summer. Implantation is delayed and a litter of 2-5 young are born in the spring. Female badgers line their dens with grass before giving birth. By the following fall the young badgers leave their mother and become solitary.

Months and Times of Activity

Badgers are nocturnal (active mostly at night) but can also be seen during early mornings.

Special Features, Stories, Relationships

• The badger has the nickname “earth-mover” because it can quickly excavate through a lot of dirt to get to its prey.
• Badgers are not aggressive unless provoked, to avoid danger they will sometimes dig themselves a hole
• Native American Legends: http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Badger_Carries_Darkness_Coyote_And_Bobcat_Scratch_Each_Other-Apache.html
• Children’s Book: Badger’s Parting Gifts by Susan Varley

References

"Badger." Azgfd.gov. Arizona Fish and Game Department, 2013. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.

"Badger." IN.gov. Indiana Department of Natural Resouces, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.