Badgers are short-legged, nocturnal omnivores that belong to the same family as otters, polecats, weasels and wolverines.
Some of the Eurasian badgers (like the one pictured below) can tip the scales at 40 pounds!
Badgers live in burrows called setts and many have been culled in Europe and the United Kingdom to prevent the spread of rabies and bovine TB.
They are fierce and will go to great extents to protect themselves and their young but can be tamed as kept as pets.
You are writing on animals. Good. We come to know about them through your posts. Many of us do not know many as there are millions of species on earth.
When I decided to do animals, I was surprised (pleasantly, mind) that I could get one for every letter of the alphabet.
The first badger I met was Badger in “The Wind in the Willows”–still one of my favorite books.
I love Badgers, but I suppose they can get pretty mean in the wild.
Mr. Badger sure was mean in The Wind in the Willows.
2015 A to Z Challenge Co-Host
Matthew MacNish from The QQQE
I asked for a pet badger when I was a kid. Sadly, my parents did not comply.
Good luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
http://pensuasion.blogspot.com
I like the black and white fur pattern on their faces, very distinctive.
They are distinctive for sure. Thanks for stopping by, Tamara. I’ve been over to read your#AtoZChallenge posts, too.
Somehow, I don’t think a badger would make a good pet. They can get pretty nasty.
I had completely forgotten about Mr Badger in The Wind in the Willows. Thanks for reminding me about him and that book. I still have my copy – a gift from one of my cousins who knew I loved to read.
It is a great book to be sure, Kathy. Glad you stopped by and left a comment. 🙂
They’re pretty animals. I know very little about them. Must learn more. 🙂 Thanks.
Glad you stopped by today, Beverly and enjoyed my “B”adger post. Hope you’ll stop by for the letter “C”. 🙂
We have an abandoned set in our woods, and there are several in-use ones on neighbouring farms. Badgers do look lovely creatures but they can be VERY vicious (which is why they were often used for badger baiting – and sadly still illegally are) We often hear the boar badgers fighting over territory, and what people don’t realise because of their large size and strength they can dig their way into chicken runs overnight and kill all the fowl inside. They also do a lot of damage to the banks and hedgerows. Devon lanes have characteristic high banks and hedges – ours is falling down in several places along our lane and will cost quite a bit to repair. Which is why – in addition to the TB, farmers often don’t like badgers. The big problem is apart from cars, they have no natural predators so their numbers aren’t naturally being kept down. I personally think a controlled cull of the SICK badgers – the ones with TB, would be of benefit to everyone – including the badgers themselves for they would be healthier if TB was stamped out. Trouble is, the government will not spend money to trap, test and either inoculate and release a healthy badger or put down a sick one. They’d rather just shoot them all and have done with it – which is not beneficial to anyone! Deer also carry TB – and cattle spread it. And despite saying all that I still haven’t seen a badger close up here in Devon!
Thanks for stopping by, Helen. What an informative comment. I’ve heard of the illegal badger baiting happening in the UK.
I don’t believe in the cull the way it’s being done. I agree with you about only culling the sick ones. The healthy ones could be vaccinated by dropping medicated food into the areas known to be homes to badgers for them to eat. We do something similar here in Canada with the rabies vaccine to keep it down in the raccoon population.