Hobbies And Interests
Description
Badgers in Arizona average between 10 and 20 lbs., growing to lengths as long as 36 inches, with the tail comprising 6 inches of this total. The badger features a white stripe that runs from the nose over the upper portion of its flattened head. The badger is short and stocky, with powerful front feet armed with sharp claws that enable it to dig and defend itself. Badgers have silver gray fur, with black feet and a trademark black patch on each of their cheeks.
Diet
The badger is nocturnal and hunts for a variety of animals. Creatures such as ground squirrels and gophers, which the badger skillfully and effortlessly captures by digging them out of their burrows, are staples. Badgers dig an assortment of dens and frequently revisit them, looking for any animal that may be using them as their own. Other animals included in the badger's diet are other rodents, as well as lizards, snakes, rabbits and birds. Eggs and carrion round out the badger's menu.
Cooperation
In Arizona and other regions where the two predators' ranges overlap, badgers sometimes work in unison with coyotes while hunting. The arrangement seemingly benefits the coyote more, as these canines will quickly run down any of the fast-footed rodents that escape from the badger as it digs them out of their burrows. The badgers and the coyotes "tolerate" each other, according to Jeff Schalau, an associate agent with the Agriculture &Natural Resources of the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension
Trapping and Damage
The primary method used to capture badgers in Arizona is by trapping, but the number of badgers trapped in the state is insignificant compared to prior decades. While trappers caught as many as 1,000 badgers a year during the 1970s and the start of the 1980s, according to the Arizona Fish and Game Department, they catch as few as 50 a year more recently. Most of these badgers fall victim to traps intended for other species. Badgers can cause damage with their constant digging, creating holes that people and livestock may trip in, notes the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mammals."