Badgers
The American badger is a stocky, medium-sized mammal with a broad head, short thick neck, short legs and a short bushy tail. Badgers can weigh up to 30 pounds. It is silver gray in color, and a black patch on each cheek, black feet and a white stripe from the tip of the nose over the top of its head.
Badgers are widely distributed throughout the US, though rarely west of the Cascade Mountains. They prefer open country with light to moderate cover, such as pastures and rangelands inhabited with burrowing rodents.
Badgers are carnivorous in that they prey on ground nesting birds, ground squirrels, pocket gophers and other small rodents. They are especially adapted to burrowing, with strong front legs equipped with long, well developed claws. They use this ability to pursue and capture ground dwelling prey. Typical burrows dug in the pursuit of prey tend to be shallow and about 1 foot in diameter. A deeper, larger burrow (5 to 30 feet in depth) with an enlarged chamber below the surface in which to give birth is often dug by female badgers.
Badgers are active at night, remaining in their burrows during the daylight hours. They are not true hibernators, but may remain inactive for periods of up to a month in winter. Badgers breed in summer and early fall, and except during mating season, are mostly solitary except females raising young.
Most damage caused by badgers results from their digging in pursuit of prey. Open burrows create hazards for livestock and horseman. In crop fields, diggings slow harvesting, decreasing yield, and causing damage to machinery. The digging and tunnels also weaken earthen dams, ditch banks and canals, resulting in possible flooding and loss of irrigation water.
