Hobbies And Interests
Description
Adult badgers are 2 to 3 feet long and weigh up to 26 lbs. They have broad, flat bodies with stout legs and a short tail. Their fur varies in color from gray to dark red and most badgers have a white strip running the length of their backs -- similar to a skunk. Badgers live up to 9 years in the wild and spend their lives alone, meeting other badgers only to mate.
Diet
Badgers feed primarily on terrestrial rodents, such as ground squirrels, pocket gophers, moles, kangaroo rats and voles. In addition to mammals, badgers are also known to eat ground nesting birds, such as burrowing owls and ground swallows. They will occasionally eat lizards, snakes, carrion and insects, especially bees and their honeycomb. Badgers supplement their meat diet with corn and sunflower seeds from time to time.
Hunting Methods
Badgers are most active at night when they can use their excellent sight and keen sense of smell to hunt down prey. They use their powerful limbs to tunnel after ground-dwelling prey. Badgers can dig large holes very quickly when ambushing animals in their burrows. Once they reach their prey they use their sharp claws to incapacitate the animal and powerful jaws and sharp teeth to eat it.
Significance
Badgers provide many benefits for local ecosystems. They help control rodent populations and kill venomous snakes near populated areas. They help aerate the soil when they dig to excavate a burrow or hunt prey. And there are many other animals that use badger burrows to hibernate in over the winter.