#AtoZChallenge – Badger

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.

badger
By BadgerHero (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

#AtoZChallenge – Aardvark

Aardvarks are native to Africa. They’re a medium-sized, nocturnal mammal with a long pig-like snout, which they use to sniff out food. Their diet consists of ants and termites, dug out of their hills using their sharp claws and powerful legs. Their digging ability is also used to create burrows to live in and raise their offspring.

aardvark
By MontageMan is the author of the original image, I did the crop [CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons