Badger belongs to the group of plantigrade animals. Their footprints are very similar to bear paw prints, but much smaller. It has 5 toes on each of its paws and bare feet. The badger's forelimbs are much more developed; they are equipped with long and slightly blunt claws, and on the hind limbs they are three times shorter.
Clear badger tracks can be seen on summer paths, after rain and on soft soil. He usually walks with small hasty steps. Hunters call these steps of a badger - jogging. When, at the height of summer, the badger begins to get very fat, its hasty steps will be replaced by a waddled step. Walking at a slow pace, imprint hind paw does not always completely cover the mark of the front paw. When a badger trots, it places its hind paw in the footprint of its front paw. It is difficult to force this animal into a gallop or a gallop.
The badger's entire life is spent near the hole. He does not go more than 600 meters away from her. This is a typical nocturnal forest dweller, going out to hunt in the dark. The badger does not like the full moon; complete darkness is his element. But in very remote places, far from settlements, where people rarely appear, can go out during the day! The badger feeds on chafer larvae, dung beetles, earthworms, frogs, and voles. From plant food Its delicacies include nuts, berries, and nutritious thick roots of plants.
In spring and summer, badgers experience the rut. Pairs remain for life unless one of the partners dies. Pregnancy begins with a delay and lasts from 9 months to a year. Badgers are born in winter and early spring, small, blind, deaf and completely helpless. They feed only on mother's milk for up to three months. By autumn, the badger cubs become independent and leave the parental hole and build their own own house. But it almost always happens that some cubs get so used to their mother that they stay with her for another winter.
No matter how much badgers love their “husband,” they always sleep in the same hole, but separately from each other - each in their own nesting chamber.
Life expectancy of a badger in their natural environment lasts approximately 14-16 years. During this time, they destroy a lot of pests of forests and fields, bringing great benefits to humans, and badger fat is known to help against many diseases.
The common badger (Meles meles) is of significant interest among all predators forest animal Ukraine. In terms of size this is the most big representative family mustelidae (body length up to 90 cm). to his appearance and differs in its peculiar physique from other species of this family. The common badger is a strong animal with a squat, clumsy body, rear end which is thicker than the front one. The head is elongated, the neck is short, the ears are rounded. The badger's muzzle is quite sharp. The limbs are short, but very massive, plantigrade, armed with long, wide, non-retractable claws, which are perfectly adapted for digging soil. Without any particular difficulty, the common badger digs deep holes for itself, and in search of food it easily breaks rotten stumps and digs roots out of the soil. The tail of badgers is short - it does not exceed the length of the head. Of the sense organs, smell and hearing are the best developed. Hairline long, coarse, made of long hair and soft short undercoat.
The color of the common badger is two-color: the back and sides of the body are brownish-gray, the belly is black-brown. Top part the muzzle and the area around the muzzle, forehead, cheeks and tops of the ears are white. On the sides of the head there are two black wide stripes, which start in front of the eyes and pass through the eyes and ears to the back of the head, where they gradually merge with the brownish coloring of the back. The tail is whitish.
Where does the badger live?
The common badger is a fairly common animal in the forests of Ukraine, but we almost never see it. Badgers lead a very secretive lifestyle. These are nocturnal animals; during the day they, as a rule, are in a deep hole and only in the evening, after sunset, they go out to hunt. Badgers are common in forest and forest-steppe zones, forests of Crimea, in Carpathian mountains, where they reach the border of the subalpine belt. They live in dry forests overgrown with small forests, shrubs and grass, mainly on the edges, difficult to pass ravines and slopes, on which they dig holes for themselves. IN mountainous area The common badger is most often found in spruce and tall trees beech forests, in ravines between rocks, among piles of stone blocks. Avoids areas where the level groundwater tall, which is not suitable for digging holes.
What does a badger eat?
The common badger is a carnivore, but it is an omnivore. It feeds on a wide variety of foods, which change in composition depending on the time of year. In summer, the main diet of the common badger consists of insects, their larvae, small ones, rodents, terrestrial mollusks, frogs and lizards. In addition, they are large quantities They consume roots and juicy stems of herbs, acorns, nuts, mushrooms and berries. In autumn they readily feed on farmland, 
They consume hemp seeds, peas, heads of corn and potatoes that ripen there.
badger hole
Unlike all other mustelids, badgers are excellent diggers. They often dig their burrows on the slopes of hills and ravines, especially if they are covered with dense undergrowth or have a very developed grass cover, where badgers skillfully camouflage the entrance holes to the burrow. The burrows of the common badger always have a complex structure. This is a labyrinth with wide and deep passages, which sometimes has more than a dozen exit and entrance holes. Usually one or two carefully trampled passages lead to a depth of two to three meters, where, at a distance of over 8 m from the entrance, the badger arranges its home, well lining it with dry leaves. Although badgers usually rest in a hole during the day, in the summer they often spend the day somewhere in the thick of bushes on the surface of the ground.
Reproduction
If there are safe places in the habitat (dark, dense forests), the badger often goes hunting during the day, long before sunset. Mating in common badgers occurs in the spring, but babies are born only the following year, after a long pregnancy (284-450 days). Newborn babies (three to five in a litter) are blind and weak, developing slowly. After two months they begin to emerge from the hole. They feed independently from the age of three months. After this, they grow quickly and in the fall are not much different from their parents. 
Badger hibernation
At the end of November, and in the mountainous regions of the Carpathians already in the second half of October, the common badger, unlike other mustelids, goes into hibernation. It sleeps lightly, often wakes up and can even come to the surface of the earth even in the middle of winter, on the warm days of temporary thaws. Near the entrance hole of the hole, on the thawed snow cover The badger left clear traces of its feet, on which the imprints of bare soles, fingers and claws, which resemble the footprints of a bear cub, are clearly outlined. Before hibernating, the common badger fattens up a lot of fat, the reserves of which enable it to survive during the long winter sleep.
Meaning of Badgers
Destroying great amount forest pests, especially chafers and their larvae, mouse-like rodents, badgers are very useful for forestry. Known Facts, when 318 cockchafer larvae were found in the stomach of one badger. Badger fur does not have any particular industrial value, but its fat does. healing properties and is used in folk medicine. At least in southern regions In Ukraine, badgers sometimes cause damage to corn crops, vineyards and melon crops, but this damage is so insignificant compared to their beneficial activities that they should be considered useful animals that deserve all possible protection.
The secret life of the common badger was filmed documentary. Video cameras were installed in the badger burrows, thanks to which we can become more familiar with these interesting animals.
The badger is a predatory animal of the mustelid family, inhabiting almost the entire territory of Russia and the CIS countries, except northern territories, arid steppes and deserts. Very rarely, a badger is found in swampy areas. He lives in mixed forests, on the edges, he is not embarrassed by the proximity to a person.
It can reach from half a meter to a meter in length, its weight depends on the time of year, in summer it does not exceed 14-15 kg, and by winter it accumulates fat, because, like a bear, it goes into hibernation. IN winter months its weight doubles.
The life of a badger is closely connected with his hole - this is his home, shelter from bad weather and protection from enemies. His strong paws long claws just made for digging! The badger's hole is very huge, with many passages, holes, ventilation holes and ranges from 30 to 80 meters. If several generations of badgers have already lived in a hole, then the den can be several times larger. Depending on the age of the hole, it can have from two to 50 or more emergency exits. If there is a lot of food in the forest, then several families can live on one ravine at once. Badgers often connect their hole with a neighbor's, and then a whole badger settlement results. They “visit” each other, pass through other holes, and the host badgers take this calmly. Sometimes, when favorable conditions, the badger digs several holes for itself and alternately lives in one hole or another! In general, the badger digs holes very quickly. This, one might say, is his main hobby. He constantly digs new holes, studies
repairing old ones, trying to improve his bedroom - nesting chamber. So, during the spring-summer season he makes several tiers-floors. There are known cases that a badger's hole is the most lowest point in which it is located at a depth of more than one and a half meters, consists of four to five floors, and the nesting chamber is located in it at a depth of only about 40 cm. The temperature in the badger’s “bedroom” is always normal, it is not hot in the summer (temperature is about 17 0 C), and in winter it remains approximately at the same level, even a little higher. In the summer there is always a cool draft, and in the winter, before going to bed, he covers all the holes with grass, earth and leaves. Therefore, it is warm in the hole in winter, and it is not disturbed by uninvited guests. Many other forest inhabitants - foxes, raccoon dogs - often settle in the badger's hole or use it for shelter. To escape from predators, a ferret, marten, wild reed cat can hide in a badger hole...
The badger is a clean animal; twice a year, in spring and autumn, before hibernating, it changes the bedding in its nesting chamber. The bedding is a kind of bed for the badger, on which he spends the entire winter. He makes the bedding from grass and moss. He goes to the toilet in the same place - “to the restroom”, located at a distance of 15-20 meters from the hole.
The badger's entire life is spent near the hole. He does not go more than 600 meters away from her. This is a typical nocturnal forest dweller, going out to hunt in the dark. The badger does not like the full moon; complete darkness is his element. But in very remote places, far from populated areas, where people rarely appear, it can even come out during the day! The badger feeds on chafer larvae, dung beetles, earthworms, frogs, and voles. Among plant foods, his delicacies include nuts, berries, and nutritious thick roots of plants.
In spring and summer, badgers experience the rut. Pairs remain for life unless one of the partners dies. Pregnancy begins with a delay and lasts from 9 months to a year. Badgers are born in winter and early spring, small, blind, deaf and completely helpless. They feed only on mother's milk for up to three months. By autumn, badger cubs become independent and leave the parental hole and build their own home. But it almost always happens that some cubs get so used to their mother that they stay with her for another winter.
No matter how much badgers love their “husband,” they always sleep in the same hole, but separately from each other - each in their own nesting chamber.
The lifespan of a badger in their natural environment lasts approximately 14-16 years. During this time, they destroy a lot of pests of forests and fields, bringing great benefits to humans, and badger fat is known to help against many diseases.
This animal is widespread, but it is not so easy to see. Again, almost every person knows what a badger looks like. Let's take a closer look at this beast. Belonging to the mustelidae family, it has a number of peculiar habits.
Appearance
The body length ranges from 60 to 90 centimeters, the tail length does not exceed 24 centimeters. With a total body length of more than 1 meter and a height of 50-60 centimeters, the badger animal is the largest of its family. The body, tapering towards the shoulders, through short neck connects to an elongated head extended towards the nose. Thus, the body, neck and head of the animal form a wedge. The legs are short and powerful. The claws on the front paws are longer than on the hind paws. This is clearly demonstrated by badger tracks.
The animal's fur consists of long awns and thick undercoat. The silver-gray color of the back and sides gradually gives way to almost black on the belly and paws. There are two wide black stripes on the muzzle, which can start from the very nose and cover the eyes and ears. The rounded tips of the ears are painted white.
The weight of the animal depends on the time of year: after waking up - up to 15 kg, before hibernation - up to 25 kg.
Habitats
Its habitat covers almost all of Europe. Behind Ural mountains The beast can be found almost throughout the entire territory of Russia (except for the extreme northern and arid regions). Also common in China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Thus, according to their habitat, the following varieties can be distinguished:
- European badger;
- Asian badger.
This animal often lives in mixed forests. Avoids open steppes and deserts, as well as deep taiga forests. The badger's home is located in places where there is a lot of grass and bushes, and the soil does not freeze or flood. Where badgers live, there is always at least some body of water nearby: a lake, a swamp, a river.
Lifestyle and habits
Nora
The animal leads night image life, therefore his vision is poorly developed, but his hearing and smell are very well developed. During the day he mostly sleeps for night hunting.
The animal spends most of its life in a hole, which it, being able to dig excellently, builds, repairs and renews itself. These animals can live alone or in families.
In its simplest form, a badger hole consists of one entrance, a tunnel and a nesting chamber at a depth of 1 to 5 meters. The nesting chamber is always landscaped with a bedding of dry grass and leaves.
Often, badger holes are connected into a complex labyrinth of many long tunnels, dead ends, nesting chambers and entrances and exits.
It is noteworthy that this animal tries to place its nesting chambers under the aquifer, so that these chambers are always dry and warm. The animal regularly replaces the old bedding from the nesting chambers with fresh one.
An abandoned badger hole can become a home for a fox or raccoon dog.
It is also interesting that the animal digs special holes for its excrement.
Wintering
Having not only accumulated a sufficient amount of fat, but also filled its pantries with the necessary supplies, the animal goes into hibernation with the onset of winter. No other representative of this family winters like this. Before lying down, he covers all the entrances to the hole with leaves. However, a badger in winter does not sleep like a bear, but lightly.
He often wakes up, and in the thaw he can even leave the hole. At this time, traces of a badger can be found near the hole. Each individual overwinters in a separate nesting chamber. As soon as the snow begins to melt in the spring, the animal finally wakes up.
Nutrition
Like any representative of the mustelids, the badger is considered a predator, but in fact it is an omnivore. Long-term observations make it possible to clearly indicate what the badger eats.
His menu includes both plant and animal food, but not carrion, which he will not touch even in difficult times of hunger.
Badgers feed on insects, amphibians and reptiles: often lizards, rarely snakes. As soon as the time comes for berries, mushrooms and nuts, he willingly eats them. A badger eats no more than half a kilogram of food per day.
Reproduction
The common badger is a monogamous animal. The formed couple remains for the entire time until one of the partners dies. The badger rut begins in spring and ends in summer.
The following spring, the female gives birth to 3-5 cubs, which are blind and absolutely helpless. Pregnancy lasts from 9 to 12 months. For the first three months of life, the only food for badger cubs is mother's milk. Then the parents teach them to hunt, and the children switch to regular food.
IN natural conditions A badger lives from 10 to 12 years.
Economic importance
The badger, destroying many pests such as chafer larvae, mole crickets, and rodents, brings great benefits to the forest and agriculture. However, settling next to a person, the badger does not hesitate to eat from the garden. This causes harm, but the magnitude of the benefit from it is disproportionately greater.
Badger and man
Badger fur has no commercial value. Not every hunter eats meat. The only value for humans is badger fat, used in folk medicine. This animal is hunted mainly with the help of dogs.
Thanks to beneficial properties badger fat, badger breeding has become profitable business. In captivity, these animals live 4-6 years longer than in the wild.
The beast is easily tamed, but never gets along with dogs.
Video
You will learn how to find a badger hole in the forest from our video.
Young lover of literature, we are firmly convinced that you will enjoy reading the fairy tale “Badgers” by Ivan Sokolov-Mikitov and you will be able to learn a lesson and benefit from it. The inspiration of everyday objects and nature creates colorful and bewitching pictures of the surrounding world, making them mysterious and enigmatic. The plot is simple and as old as the world, but each new generation finds in it something relevant and useful. Here you can feel harmony in everything, even the negative characters seem to be an integral part of existence, although, of course, they go beyond the boundaries of what is acceptable. With the virtuosity of a genius, portraits of the heroes are depicted, their appearance, rich inner world, they “breathe life” into creation and the events taking place in it. The desire to convey a deep moral assessment of the actions of the main character, which encourages one to rethink oneself, was crowned with success. It is sweet and joyful to immerse yourself in a world in which love, nobility, morality and selflessness always prevail, with which the reader is edified. The fairy tale “Badgers” by Ivan Sokolov-Mikitov is certainly necessary to read for free online, not by children alone, but in the presence or under the guidance of their parents.
Once upon a time there were a lot of badgers in our Russian forests. They usually settled in remote places, near swamps, rivers, and streams. For their burrows, badgers chose high, dry, sandy places that were not flooded by spring waters. Badgers dug deep holes. Above their holes grew tall trees. There were several exits and entrances from the holes. Badgers are very neat and smart animals. In winter, they, like hedgehogs and bears, hibernate and emerge from their holes only in the spring.
I remember when I was a child, my father took me to look at residential badger holes. In the evening we hid behind tree trunks, and we were able to see how old short-legged badgers went out to hunt, how small badgers played and romped near their holes.
In the forest in the mornings, I had to meet badgers more than once. I watched how a badger carefully made its way near the tree trunks, sniffing the ground, looking for insects, mice, lizards, worms and other meat and plant food. Badgers are not afraid poisonous snakes, catch them and eat them. Badgers do not go far from the hole. They graze and hunt near their underground dwellings, not relying on their short legs. The badger walks quietly on the ground, and it is not always possible to hear his steps.
The badger is a harmless and very useful animal. Unfortunately, there are almost no badgers in our forests now. It is rare that inhabited badger holes remain in the deep forest. The badger is a smart forest animal. He doesn't harm anyone. It is difficult for a badger to get used to captivity, and in zoos during the day badgers usually sleep in their dark kennels.
It is very interesting, having found holes, to follow the life of their inhabitants.
I have never hunted the peace-loving badgers, but sometimes I have found their forest homes. It was rare to see live badgers. You used to go with capercaillie current, the sun rises over the forest. You stop to sit down on a tree stump and listen and look carefully. You will see a badger carefully making its way near the tree trunks and sniffing every inch of the ground. A badger's paws look like small, strong shovels. In case of danger, a badger can quickly bury itself in the ground. When badgers dig their holes, they scoop out the earth with their front legs and push it out with their back legs. They dig holes quickly, like machines.
If you find live badger holes in the forest, do not touch them, do not destroy them, or kill useful and good-natured animals. The badger has become a very rare animal in our forests. It is not difficult to completely destroy this beast.
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