Unit 1 [PDF] - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Badger.
Rear
Front
Badger tracks.
Front
2” width by 1.5” length
Rear
1.75” width by 2” length
Chapter 4 - Wisconsin’s Furbearer Resource
Badger
Taxidea taxus; Order: Carnivora; Family: Mustelidae
Description:
Badger, a member of the weasel family, are wide, flat carnivores with a grizzled
gray appearance and a distinctive white stripe from their nose, over their
head and ending between their shoulders. Average adults weigh 12-16 pounds,
but may increase to 20 or more pounds in the fall. Badger are well known for
their digging ability and fierce disposition. Badger use multiple elaborate dens
with tunnels from 6-15 feet deep and as much as 30 feet to an elevated main
chamber. Badger use bedding material and have a separate toilet chamber.
Biology:
Badger breed in August or September. After a delay of about five months,
implantation of the embryos occurs. Following a five to six week development
period, an average of three young are born sometime from March to June in
a den 2-6 feet below ground. The young stay with the female until fall, when
they disperse.
Badger catch prey such as ground squirrels, pocket gophers, and mice by digging
them out of their dens. The badger digs a burrow, uses it for a time, and
then moves on and digs another one. These burrows, and the accompanying
mound of dirt, are quite often a problem in hayfields and pastures, but if they
are located along fence rows or field edges, they are valuable because many of
them are used as dens by other animals such as rabbits and fox.
Badger are active mainly at night, spending the daytime underground. Badger
do not actually hibernate, but they do spend most of the winter sleeping underground,
occasionally coming out on especially warm days.
Habitat:
Badger primarily occur in the western and north central states with some eastward
expansion. Badger are common in Wisconsin and are most abundant in
the prairie regions. Although they do not spray like a skunk, badger will release
a strong musk odor from a pair of anal scent glands when disturbed. Establishing
and maintaining grassland habitats are the most important conservation
measures for this species.
Sign:
The most obvious indication that badgers are present is the occurrence of tunnels,
dug in open areas and fields, with a large mound of dirt in front of them.
Often badger will excavate several shallow tunnels at the same site when digging
out a gopher, and this series of tunnels and mounds of dirt may cover an
Wisconsin Trapper Education Manual 44