Badgers
Famous for their black-and-white striped faces, round solid bodies, and powerful digging skills, badgers are fascinating creatures!
Here's some fun facts about badgers:
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Badgers live in underground tunnel systems and burrows called setts. Some of these setts can be massive and used by badger families for decades!
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Badgers keep their homes clean and tidy and never eat inside them.
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They create smelly toilet areas outside their homes called latrines to keep their homes clean but also to mark out their territory.
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A badger's whiskers are built-in tape measures which helps them to test small gaps. If their whiskers bend, the badger knows they are too big to squeeze through.
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They have a deep sleep during the day and only wake up at night to hunt for food.
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Badgers live in mixed family groups called clans, with usually 4 to 8 adult badgers.
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Badgers eat mostly earthworms and can munch up to 200 in one night.
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Badgers don’t hibernate through the Winter, but during the coldest months they become sluggish and use their Autumn fat reserves rather than hunting at night.
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Despite their short chunky legs, badgers can reach short-burst speeds of up to 19 miles per hour!
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Badgers have incredible hearing and a powerful sense of smell. They talk with one another using over 16 different sounds - purrs, barks, grunts and growls.
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A group of badgers is called a clan.
How Your Family Can Help Badgers
Sometimes, food can be very hard to find if it’s a dry Summer or freezing cold Winter. So, you can leave out some snacks for them like bits of chopped apples and pears or root vegetables, like carrots.
Badgers also get very thirsty while out roaming at night so put out a strong shallow bowl of fresh water for them to have a drink but remember to wash it out each day.
If you discover a badger’s home, don’t disturb them. It’s their private place to rest and they need to be protected.