Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Badgers Are Diggers
By: Tom Berg
This badger is caught in the middle of digging. Badgers are built for, and their lives revolve around, digging. Photo: Tom Berg
Did you know that American badgers are native to most states in the USA? Did you also know that if you are living in one of the Great Lakes states or anywhere west of the Mississippi River, there are probably badgers living within a 30-minute drive of your house right now? Or maybe even closer? It’s true.
Most “city folk” have never seen a wild American badger, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t living nearby. Badgers are nocturnal animals, and they also spend a lot of their time underground. That helps explain why they are seldom seen. They are also solitary creatures, and unlike raccoons they shun people and neighborhoods.
Head out of town into farm country and you will suddenly be in badger territory.
Badgers are members of the weasel family, and they are built for digging. They have short, muscular legs and long claws that allow them to dig with ease. Their fur is silvery gray or tan-colored, and they have a bright white stripe across the top of their head, from their nose to the back of their neck. They also have distinctive black and white markings on their faces. They typically weigh up to 30 pounds.
Badgers prefer to live in areas with sandy, well-drained soil. It allows easy digging and makes for a dry, comfortable underground den. Some of their favorite foods are gophers, chipmunks and ground squirrels, and they can dig them out of their burrows with very little trouble. They also eat moles and voles, which would endear them to property owners, if it wasn’t for their own incessant digging.
Back in colonial days, the first Europeans hunted and trapped badgers for their fur and for food. Native Americans routinely ate badger meat. Today, badgers are still pursued by fur trappers in the states where it is legal to trap them, but very few people still eat badger meat. A fast food cheeseburger sounds much better to most people these days!
Tom Berg is an award-winning writer and photographer and has been a freelance writer since 1993. He is also the Executive Director of the Hoosier Outdoor Writers organization in Indiana and is a member of several other writers groups.
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