Despite the fact that these animals are quite widespread, it is very difficult to meet a badger in the wild. Usually, adult badgers go out into the wild only at dusk, and during the day they sleep in burrows. But sometimes in warm summer you can see how during the day a mother takes out little badgers to bask in the sun.
Appearance and habitats
The badger is a very impressive representative of the mustelidae family. In length, its body reaches up to 1 m and weighs up to 12 kg, and in winter the animal can gain up to 23 kg. The animal has a small head with rounded ears, a wedge-shaped body with a short tail. On short, but impressive paws, there are long, powerful claws, thanks to which the badger perfectly digs holes and gets roots and root vegetables for food. These animals have long, slightly rough fur, which on most of the body is light and silver-gray in color. The abdomen is always colored in darker tones, and the head is white, with wide black stripes on the sides.
Today, badgers are found everywhere, from Japan to Europe. They are not very picky about the choice of habitat, the main thing is that the hole does not freeze in winter, and does not flood in the spring. That is why the animals do not live in permafrost conditions and avoid the steppe and desert zones.
Living conditions
The badger is a couch potato, and usually his life does not go beyond the boundaries of a one and a half kilometer zone from the burrow. If the area is rich in food, then several animals can dig holes nearby. Usually badgers settle aloof only when there is a lack of food. The badger is personally involved in the construction of the burrow, constantly changing its length or width. The burrow itself has a complex configuration. It has a whole system of galleries from several levels, ventilation holes, many dead ends and branches, nesting chambers. The burrow can be up to 80 m long. But the main chamber, which is carefully covered with a layer of dry leaves, grasses or moss, is considered to be the “pillar hall”.
If a pair of badgers lives in peace, then the burrow is inherited by their offspring. Each subsequent generation rebuilds housing for themselves. Often, badgers, breaking through new passages, connect neighboring burrows into whole settlements. In autumn, the animals fatten up to hibernate in winter. Several individuals can hibernate in one burrow, but each has its own “bedroom” - a nesting chamber. In places with mild winters, animals go into the hole for just a couple of days.
Diet
The badger goes in search of food at nightfall, while it does not hide and makes noise. He moves slowly and heavily, although he swims perfectly. Lowering its head to the ground, the animal goes at a shallow jog or step. Badgers love cleanliness and near their burrows they always have the utmost cleanliness.
Forest badgers are omnivorous, but prefer beetles, earthworms, slugs. They successfully hunt lizards, voles, frogs. They can eat large beetles, eating green shoots of plants, rhizomes, fruits, but they will never eat carrion.
