The badger or common badger is a predatory mammal that is a member of the Mustelidae family. Animal badger – amazing creature, which combines unusual appearance, flexible character and considerable economic benefits. Below you will find photos and descriptions of badgers and you will be able to learn a lot of interesting and new things about this forest animal.
What does a badger look like?
The badger looks like a medium-sized animal. An ordinary badger has a body length from 60 to 90 cm and a weight of up to 24 kg, while the length of its tail is 20-25 cm. Males are slightly larger than females. The badger looks massive due to its unique body structure. The badger animal has an oblong body shape, resembling a forward-facing wedge.
The European badger has a narrow, elongated muzzle with round, shiny eyes and a very short neck. The badger animal has short, strong paws, the toes of which have long claws for digging holes.
The badger looks fluffy because long hair, which is quite tough. Under the main fur of the European badger there is a warm and dense undercoat. The fur of the common badger is gray or brown, often with a silvery tint, and the lower part of the body is almost black.
The badger looks quite unusual. Its white face has two broad dark stripes that extend from its nose to its small, white-tipped ears. In winter, the badger looks lighter than in summer, when its fur takes on darker shades. In the fall, the badger gains 10 kg of fat to its usual weight before hibernation. During this period, the badger looks especially large.
Where does the badger live?
The badger lives throughout almost the entire territory of Europe, with the exception of only the north of Finland and the Scandinavian Peninsula, since it does not live on frozen soils. Also, the animal badger lives in Asia Minor and Western Asia, in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia.
The badger lives in mixed and taiga forests. Sometimes badgers live in mountain ranges; they are also found in semi-deserts and steppes. The badger lives near bodies of water and sticks to dry areas, avoiding flooded areas.
A badger's home is its hole. Badgers live in deep burrows, which they dig on the slopes of ravines, ravines and hills, and high banks of rivers or lakes. The badger lives by spending most of its time in a hole. The common badger is a permanent and conservative animal, so inhabited badger burrows are passed on from generation to generation.
In areas where there is an abundance of food, different families badgers can form an entire city of badgers by combining their burrows with each other. Each subsequent generation of badgers completes their burrows, breaking through new passages and expanding the family estate. This is how badger holes turn into an underground city with dozens of exits.
Lonely badgers live in simple burrows; such a badger house has one entrance and a nesting chamber. And here big family Badgers live in entire settlements. The city of badgers is a complex and multi-tiered underground structure with many entrances and ventilation holes, long tunnels, various passages and several nesting chambers. Nesting chambers are usually located at a depth of at least 5 meters, they are spacious and lined with dry grass mat.
Badgers arrange nesting chambers so that rain or groundwater didn't leak. The common badger is a practical animal and loves comfort. Therefore, comfortable and dry badger holes are often occupied by foxes and raccoon dogs. This is not the case simple life at the badger.
In addition, the badger is a rare clean animal that regularly cleans its burrow, throwing out garbage and periodically replacing old bedding. The animal badger even arranges a toilet outside the hole or allocates a special place in it. Also in the badger hole there are various rooms for economic needs animal.
The life of a badger is peaceful, so the animal badger has almost no enemies in nature. Wolves and lynxes can pose a threat to it. But the main danger to the European badger is humans. In some cases, human economic activity leads to improved living conditions for badgers. But on the other hand, the network of roads built in natural areas increases the mortality of this animal and deprives it of its natural habitats. The greatest harm to badger populations comes from people who destroy badger burrows. A badger's home is very important for the animal.
The badger is listed in the International Red Book under the status of “least endangered”. After all, this animal is quite common and has stable populations. But the badger is hunted in order to obtain its healing fat, which is widely used in alternative medicine. In Europe, the badger was subjected to global extermination as a carrier of dangerous diseases.
The number of badgers has decreased significantly in those areas that are engaged in active economic activity. This has led to the loss of the badger’s habitat, and it is also being destroyed as a “pest” of crops. However, the common badger does more good than harm, because it eats many pests Agriculture.
What does a badger eat and how does it live?
The badger lives, being active mainly at night. But it can often be found during daylight hours, early morning or late afternoon. The badger animal is quite noisy; it snores loudly, makes various sounds and moves slowly. Badgers have poor eyesight. But the badger animal has a well-developed sense of smell and good hearing, which helps it navigate.
The common badger is not aggressive by nature. When meeting a predator or a person, the animal badger prefers to retreat to cover. But in anger European badger bites the offender and hits him with his nose, after which he runs away. However, the main male in the badger family very zealously guards the family plot from strangers.
The badger eats quite a varied diet and is practically omnivorous, but prefers animal food. The badger feeds on various mouse-like rodents, lizards, frogs, birds and their eggs. The badger also feeds on earthworms, insects and their larvae, and mollusks. The badger eats berries, mushrooms, nuts and grass.
When hunting, a badger travels considerable distances, examining fallen trees to find various insects and earthworms. During one hunt, the animal badger catches up to 70 frogs and several hundred insects. But a badger eats only 0.5 kg of food per day, which is quite enough for him. Only closer to autumn does the badger begin to gain fat and eat to survive hibernation.
The badger animal is the only representative of the Mustelidae family that hibernates in winter. For example, the stoat does not hibernate at all. In cold areas, badger hibernation begins in mid-autumn and lasts until spring. But in warm areas with mild winters, it does not sleep all year round.
The animal badger is an active transformer of the environment in the animal world. Badger burrows have an impact on the soil and the organisms that live in it. In addition, a badger's hole often serves other species of animals as housing, where they can breed offspring or simply escape from bad weather.
The European badger is a carrier of diseases dangerous to humans and domestic animals. It transmits rabies and bovine tuberculosis. To control these diseases, the number of animals is most often reduced by extermination and destruction of their homes. Animals are currently being vaccinated in Europe natural conditions to combat the spread of rabies.
Sometimes the animal badger creates storage facilities in fields, gardens or under buildings, which causes conflict between the animal and man. A significant part of the European badger's diet consists of various forestry and agricultural pests. For example, a badger feeds on the larvae of the cockchafer.
Badger skin has little value. Since wool is very hard, its hair is used in the manufacture of painting brushes. But the fat of badgers has remarkable healing properties, which is why the animal is fiercely pursued by hunters.
Badgers are monogamous and often form pairs long years or even for life. The mating season for the European badger begins at the end of winter and lasts until September. In the fall, educated couples prepare the nesting chamber in which the badger pups are to be born.
Pregnancy in a female has an extended period and its duration depends on the time at which mating occurred. Therefore, a female can carry badger cubs from 9 to 14 months. Most often, from 2 to 6 badger cubs are born.
In Europe, badger cubs are born from December to April, and in Russia - in March-April. Badger cubs are born blind, deaf and helpless. Only at the age of 1.5 months do badger cubs begin to see and hear. The mother feeds the badger cubs milk until almost 3 months.
But very soon the badger cubs will begin to leave the hole and feed on their own. By the age of 6 months, badger cubs almost reach the size of adults. In autumn the brood disintegrates. After which each badger begins an independent life.
Females become capable of reproduction at the age of two years, and males at the age of three years. In nature, a badger lives 10-12 years, and in captivity the life expectancy of a badger reaches 16 years.
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Badger - interesting representative of the mustelid family, distinguished by its peculiar character and interesting, in an unusual way life. On this moment the population of these pretty animals was significantly thinned out by the efforts of hunters, since badger fat costs a lot of money. Today this animal is listed in the Red Book.
Features and habitat
The badger is distinguished by its large size, compared to other members of the mustelid family. Its elongated, seemingly awkward body can reach up to 90 cm in length. Females are usually smaller than males.
Also, depending on the habitat, there are large and small badgers (desert). Weight adult is about 10-20 kg in summer and increases to 20-30 kg in winter.
The badger's body has an oblong shape, with a pointed muzzle, which has characteristic black stripes running from the nose to the ears. The ears are small, somewhat reminiscent of a bear, with white tips.
The tail of a badger is short, about 20 cm. The paws of this unusual animal are short but thick. At their end are quite impressive claws, which badgers use for digging the ground.
The body of these cute animals is covered with luxurious long hair, usually brown or gray in color, which becomes lighter on the sides. The winter color of the badger is lighter than the summer color.
Under the main layer of fur there is a warm undercoat, which allows you to survive difficult times without problems. Badgers shed gradually - hair falls out throughout the spring-summer period, and new growth begins at the very end of summer.
The habitat of badgers is incredibly wide. They can be found almost throughout the entire area of Europe, as well as in Asia. This animal is very unpretentious and is able to survive in a wide variety of conditions.
The main thing is that the terrain allows you to set up a hole. Feels great badger in the forest, where it prefers to dig holes on the edges, in gullies or ravines.
Character and lifestyle of a badger
Most The badger spends his life in a hole, which he makes as comfortable and convenient for life as possible. Where there is little food, they settle alone, although they do not particularly quarrel with each other. If there is abundance all around, then badgers can form a whole settlement.
First, they dig their burrows next to each other, and then combine them using underground passages. Borders underground city are marked by a special smell, which is the same for all representatives of the same family.
Farm land is demarcated by excrement, which shows the outsider that the area is already occupied. Usually in such associations the oldest male is the main one.
Despite their penchant for a social lifestyle, badgers do not experience problems if circumstances force them to live independently. A well-organized home plays a special role for them.
badger hole has an extensive network of tunnels and one or more main chambers. The animal carefully monitors the cleanliness of its home. In the main chamber there is a bedding made of dry leaves and grass, which is changed twice a year. This is where he will sleep badger in winter. This clean animal digs a toilet not far from the mink, but not right in front of the entrance.
If there is a cold winter in the badger’s habitat, then it hibernates in order to wait out the unfavorable period. By this time, the animal has eaten a good layer of fat, which will allow it to survive the winter.
Most often, badgers hibernate in December, but it all depends on the climate. If cold weather comes earlier, then hibernation may begin sooner. The thaw can wake you up sleeping badger and even make him look out of the hole.
These atypical members of the mustelid family are predominantly night image life. Despite this, everyone knows what it looks like badger. Photo this unusual forest dweller can be seen in this article below or above, but here is a meeting with him face to face - very rare.
Nutrition
Badger is an omnivore, capable of feeding in almost any conditions. Therefore, their diet varies significantly depending on their habitat and time of year. Favorite delicacies of badgers are rain slugs, slugs, and large ones.
Sometimes they hunt small rodents and destroy bird nests, catch or. Plants are also included in the diet of badgers - they happily eat berries, rhizomes, greens and fruits.
All kinds of mushrooms, which the forests are so rich in, are also eaten. In some places, nuts form part of the badgers' diet. In general, they can eat about 50 various types plants and about the same number of varieties.
Another place for feeding the omnivorous animal is agricultural land. Badgers feed in the fields, eating some of the cultivated plants planted by humans. They give particular preference to legumes and corn.
Naturally, this hardened the greedy hearts of farmers, becoming another excuse badger hunting. The fact that they bring a lot of benefits by destroying pests is usually not taken into account.
Reproduction and lifespan
Badgers are monogamous. Their pairs are created for several years, or even for life. Puberty in badgers it occurs at 2 years of age in females and at the age of 3 years in males. Mating season usually lasts from late winter to early autumn.
After fertilization, the female bears the offspring for a fairly long period of time - from 9 to 12 months, depending on the time of year in which mating took place.
On average, 2 to 6 cubs are born. They are born blind and deaf, completely helpless. Only after a month do they begin to develop hearing, and the babies’ eyes open only after a month and a half.
It will take at least 3 months until the badger cubs can get out of their home hole. After about six months, their size will begin to approach the size of their parents, but despite this, most of them spend their first wintering with their family. Average duration The lifespan of badgers is from 5 to 12 years. In captivity, some individuals live up to 16 years.
Badgers are not afraid of people and can easily become a pet. They easily find a common language with people and can bring a lot of joy to their owner. Naturally, many believe that finding such exotic pet not easy.
However, today you can easily buy a badger, if necessary. The only condition is that the enclosure for the animal must be strong, and its floor must be reinforced with concrete or mesh to avoid undermining. If everything is done correctly, the badger will become a faithful friend of man and will give a lot of joy and warmth to its owner.
Considering Funny Pics badgers in Runet or glossy magazines, it seems that the ordinary badger is a cute tame animal, almost a cat. However, those who met him in wildlife or went hunting for a badger, they know what a self-sufficient and intelligent animal it is, capable of organizing its life in such a way as to survive in difficult conditions.
Descriptions of the badger can be found in many sources, both Russian and foreign. After all, there are a lot of places on our planet where the badger lives.
Badgers living in Russian forests feel safe. In warm weather, wolves have no time for badgers, they are already well-fed, but in winter the badger is hungry beasts of prey can't get it. Besides, the badger is not so harmless. It is not small (together with its tail, it is longer than a meter), although it is quite light. The fluffy fur hides how much a badger weighs, making the animal appear larger than one might think. His weight is summer months rarely exceeds 15 kg, but by September he may gain another 10 kilograms. A domestic badger can fatten up to 40 kilograms by winter.
Due to its thick and long fur, the badger appears even larger than it actually is. Fortunately for its owner, badger fur is not soft enough, so it is not in demand in the fur industry. But the appearance of this animal is interesting and important: the silver-gray coloring of the back and sides turns into almost black on the belly, such is the badger in the photo.
The face of the animal is decorated with captivating eyes and ears of a dark stripe, and from the tip of the nose to the forehead there is a white stripe, the same white stripes are on the cheeks of the beast. So the badger will not ruin the photo if there is an opportunity for a photo shoot. The shape of the badger's body seems to be specially designed for digging holes: a wide backside smoothly transitions into narrow shoulders and an elegant long-nosed muzzle.
The European badger has short but strong limbs, and its claws are wide and long. Although outwardly clumsy, the badger is an excellent runner. Although, in truth, he is quite lazy and prefers to stride along, creating quite a lot of noise around him.
Badger habits
The badger is a neat person and a wonderful owner; the badger's hole is always clean. The animals live in pairs, but the badger family is not particularly eager to acquire a separate living space.
Meet us! Landowner Badger - pictures from life.
When well-fed, these animals find it more comfortable to live in hostels, which are entire underground labyrinths of several tiers and sometimes up to a mile or more in length. The area of these premises where the badger lives can increase from year to year, from decade to decade. This is a very complex structure with multiple entrances and exits, places reserved for sleeping and storing supplies, as well as devices for ventilation.
“Rooms” for living are often located very deep underground (another 5-7 meters deeper than the aquifer). Most often, each family has its own separate entrance to the hole, and maybe several. It happens that several families can use one main entrance, but there will certainly be emergency exits.
The badger is a clean, economical animal, it doesn’t sit still, it loves its home and takes care of it: it either takes out the bedding to dry, or repairs, corrects, and improves the hole.
For a badger, the habitat is not limited to burrows.
There is also order and cleanliness around the hole: neatly dug channels for the toilet are not far from the home, and everything that has served its purpose is kept away from the place where the owner of the home sleeps and eats.
Only a badger can maintain such an order, but other animals, for example, foxes or raccoon dogs, also like to live in this order. That’s why they ask to stay with a diligent owner. It’s okay, the badger is a hospitable owner, although strict. He will let you stay, but on the condition that the guests follow the hygiene rules he has established.
And if they get bored, the badger will throw them out. And not all animals in a row are ready to be accepted by a thrifty owner: wild cats, the entrance to the badger hole is closed to ferrets and martens. Therefore, do not believe the stories that a fox can take a badger’s hole against his will.
Having invested so much work into its arrangement, he will tear apart anyone who tries to kick him out.
Despite the fact that badgers live in colonies, each one occupies its own food plot in the area. Neighbors respect borders and do not enter other people's territory. In the summer months, if there is enough food, then this area is limited to several hectares. The favorite area of such an animal as the common badger is a place near water bodies.
How does a badger eat
The badger is not picky when it comes to food. He also loves to feast on frogs, slugs, and snails near a pond, and another time to gut a mouse hole. So what to feed a badger if you let it into your home is more or less clear. However, the domestic badger requires a lot of attention to its person and the impression from the photo of a badger in magazines may not correspond to reality.
In the wild, even in times of famine, it is clear what a badger eats. Badgers, described in Wikipedia, on a hungry day do not disdain to eat larvae, beetles and worms for lunch, and for dessert - berries and roots with mushrooms. In its hole, the badger always sets up a storage room, where he will slowly put away supplies for the hungry spring, so that when he wakes up after hibernation, he does not wander around the hungry forest, but calmly feasts and restores his strength.
Family idyll
Badgers are animals that form strong and friendly families where everyone fulfills their responsibilities. A mother badger is busy taking care of her offspring. IN spring time From three to six cubs are born each year. They are still very helpless and need mother's milk. The badger feeds them until they are three months old. Then, having matured and become stronger, they can eat the food that adults prefer.
Badgers are very responsible in teaching their cubs to survive on their own. In small areas located near the holes, kids learn to hunt. To do this, adult badgers catch mice, lizards and frogs and bring them to their cubs.
It can be noted that this form of learning is inherent in almost all predators.
Towards the end of summer, badger cubs can independently make forays for food. But their parents still control them. And in the fall, the kids learn to set up wintering chambers.
They will spend the winter in a hole with their mother, and in the spring they will go out into independent life. Some badgers, born earlier than another litter, live separately in the fall.
Having looked for a separate area of the forest, they dig holes there and settle down.
And sometimes they find a place for themselves among the homes of other badgers, making themselves a house with separate exits. The most important thing is that there is a free area nearby to search for food.
A badger is in sight. Interesting Facts.
The European badger is something of a creature of habit. Many badger holes are passed down through generations, like ancient castles. That is why they are often compared to " upper class» Britain.
Badger holes
The home of the European badger comes in completely different sizes.
The largest badger hole found was more reminiscent of ancient English castles. Since it had over 100 inputs, great amount rooms and long tunnels. A clan of 20 badgers lived in this castle. By nature, badgers spend approximately half of their lives in a state of sleep.
The animal belongs predatory mammal family of mustelids. Its relatives include the otter and the stoat. Badgers usually do not need to drink as they mainly consume juicy earthworms. Only in severe hunger do badgers eat mice, beetles, toads, rats and even grains.
Hunting and food
In general, badgers are quite talented hunters. In one outing, they are able to catch more than 70 of their victims. Their diet is quite moderate; badgers eat little by little. Only closer to autumn do badgers store up fat so that they have a source of nutrition during winter sleep. This sole representative family of mustelids, flowing into hibernation. For a badger, hibernation is the first thing in the snowy cold. In the spring, the badger acquires slender forms and actively begins the new season.
As a rule, badgers are not aggressive towards people. The badger in the photograph is always calm. It is preferable for them to avoid contact by hiding in a hole. But you shouldn’t deliberately anger the badger, as he can stand up for himself.
Badger Communications
Under the badger's tail there are special glands that secrete a rather odorous substance called musk. Thanks to him, the badger marks its territory. It is also used to determine clan affiliation.
If you are away from your burrow for a long time, the smell may disappear. In this case, the animal risks being left without its family.
Badgers have their own vocabulary, which consists of sixteen different sounds. Mating in this species of animal can occur at any time of the year.
Unfortunately, due to the high mortality rate, only small part lives up to his first anniversary.
A huge part of badgers die on the roads under the wheels of American cars. Despite the shooting, their numbers are constantly growing. This harsh measure is caused by the suspicion that badgers are carriers of bovine tuberculosis.
The badger's habitat is very extensive. It is known that over two million years ago the common badger came to Europe from China.
Badger and man
There are cases when in some countries badger meat was consumed as food. The meat tastes very much like dried lamb. Badger fat, as Wikipedia says, is a valuable medicine.
Watch the video about the badger:
The badger is a prominent representative of the marten family, a subfamily of badgers. We have already written about badgers. In this article we will delve a little deeper into the kingdom of badgers and tell you more about this animal.
Marten family
Many martens, including the most typical ones, are characterized by a long tail, thin body and short legs; most species are small or medium-sized animals, very major representatives not in this family at all.
The coloring and pattern of their fur are very different, and some northern species There are dark summer and light winter outfits, which is how they differ from all other predators except the Arctic fox. Big number species is dressed in an almost completely monochromatic coat, while the colors of others are unusually bright. In the coloration of some we notice unusually sharp contrasts between the dark and light parts of the body, and, moreover, in contrast to most mammals, the underside of the marten's body is often darker in color than the upper.
Martens never have a spotted or cross-striped outfit, just like a tail in alternating dark and light rings, but longitudinally striped coloring is quite common. The family of martens, among which there are species that deliver the most expensive furs, are divided into three subfamilies: otters, badgers and martens in the literal sense of the word. The geographical distribution of martens is very wide; they are found in all parts of the world except Australia. The temperate countries of the Northern Hemisphere are richest in them.
The subfamily of badgers (Melinae) is characterized by the strong development of claws on the limbs, which are an adaptation to their lifestyle. Of the representatives of this subfamily, our European badger belongs to the genus of the same name (Meles), consisting of closely related species widely distributed throughout Europe and Asia.
Detailed description of the badger
This genus is distinguished by a dense, squat build, a pointed muzzle, short ears, the same tail, highly developed claws of the front legs adapted for digging the ground, long, hard fur and an odorous gland located under the tail.
Most known species this kind, ours common badger(M. taxus), has a body length of 75, a tail length of 18, and a height at the nape of 30 centimeters. Its head is white with two black longitudinal stripes starting at the back of the head, its back is white and gray with black spots, the sides of its body and tail are mixed with a reddish color, and its underside and legs are black and brown.
The coat is long, sparse and harsh. The skin of a badger is very wide and is connected to the underlying muscles in a remarkably loose manner, so no matter what part of the body the badger is held by, it almost always has the opportunity to turn around and bite the person who catches it.
Distribution and lifestyle of the badger
The badger is distributed throughout Europe, with the exception of the northern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula and Sardinia, throughout Northern Asia, where it extends to the Lena, and maybe in Syria, however, it is still unknown whether our typical badger is found here, or whether it is replaced here by a smaller, Persian species .
In Russia, the badger, which is very common in many areas and often causes damage to vineyards, is found mainly in dense forests or rocky areas covered with bushes. He builds himself extensive underground burrows, in which he hides during the day; in the evening he goes out for prey, either alone or in the community of several of his comrades. In areas with harsh climates, the badger spends the entire winter hibernating, but in countries with more temperate climate, for example in England, often interrupts her.
The badger retires in mid-November and, unless a prolonged thaw occurs, does not leave its hole before mid-March. The badger keeps his hole, the exit from which he closes for the winter, in extreme neatness. He lines it with ferns and moss, renews the litter by the time winter comes, and often dries it out before putting it into use.
The badger's food consists not only of animals; it eats various roots, acorns, fruits, pulls out bumblebee nests, catches small mammals, frogs, insects, and finally feasts on bird eggs.
Reproduction
In a deep hole, often branching at its end, the female usually lays 3 to 4 blind cubs, whose eyes open only on the tenth day. The little ones begin to emerge from the hole only in June; taken in early youth, they easily become tame.
The badger, as they say, does not get along well with the fox and allegedly even kills her fox cubs if he finds them. However, it often happened to find fox holes with cubs in close proximity to badger hole, sometimes both animals live in the same hole; finally, one fox regularly threw cubs in a badger hole.
Read more Interesting Facts about forest mammals -
Badger(lat. Meles meles) is a predatory animal from the mustelidae family.
Description of the badger and photographs.
The badger's body is long and tapers towards the head, up to 60-90 centimeters in length. The weight of a badger can reach 24 kilograms. The paws of these animals are massive, but short: predators stand firmly on them, resting their entire foot. The claws are long and blunt, adapted for digging. The badger's fur is not monochromatic. The body is black and gray with a hint of silver, and the head is white with two black, vertical stripes.
Types of badgers.
Among these predators there are several species: Japanese badger, Asian badger, common badger (European), American badger.
Where does the badger live?
The badger’s home is a hole with its own system of passages; the animals live in it in families. Sometimes there are huge holes that look like underground towns, in which fifteen families live. Badgers can also share their home with or. The number of family members directly depends on the amount of food on their territory. In a family, badgers distinguish each other by smell. They do not accept strangers; uninvited guests are driven away by the leader of the family. Badgers are very clean animals; they clean their burrows and even build toilets separate from their homes.
What does a badger eat?
Badgers can wander very far in search of food. They always use the same roads and paths. The badger in nature is accustomed to walk long distances. During the mating season, they can walk countless kilometers without much difficulty. They are not picky about food and will eat almost anything. The diet includes both fruits and roots, and small mammals. , rabbits, and especially their young, can become food for a badger. But most of all the badger likes to eat earthworms, they favorite treat.
Reproduction of badgers.
The badger breeding season lasts from February to October, but the peak occurs in September. These animals are monogamous. Badger pregnancy lasts a very long time, from 271 to 450 days. It depends on what time of year the female became pregnant. From one to four cubs are born, which remain blind and dependent on their parents for almost five weeks. They will be able to feed themselves after three months, but they drink milk for four months. Badgers prepare nurseries even before the babies appear, and the female badger gives birth to babies already there. When the young grow up and no longer need the nesting hole, it is replaced with a new one, removing the old grass litter. On the eve of hibernation, in the fall, the brood breaks up and goes into independent life.
How do they reproduce? The answers to these and other questions can be found in our material.
Appearance
The badger is an animal that has a long body that gradually tapers towards the head. Adults can grow up to 90 centimeters and gain weight of about 25 kilograms. The animals have short, massive limbs. Such paws allow badgers to move freely across a wide variety of terrain. The toe pads are crowned with blunt, rather long claws, which enable the animal to create spacious burrows deep in the ground.
Badger fur is not a single color. The fur on the body of the animal has a grayish-black tint with a silver tint. The badger's head is white with black parallel stripes that extend from the muzzle to the neck.
Lifestyle
Often badgers in the forest live separately from their relatives. However, the vast majority form families. If an increased number of animals is observed in one area, they form small groups. Relatives populate the badger's hole, where the dominant female and male dominate. The size of the territory controlled by the family sometimes reaches an area of about 400 hectares.
The animals mark the boundaries of their own possessions with an odorous secretion. The spread of a characteristic musky odor tells uninvited guests that the territory is already occupied. Each group of relatives has its own unique aroma of secretion, which is released from special glands located at the tail of the animal.
When a badger fails to reproduce in a dense population, the animal leads a solitary life. In such cases, the animal often finds shelter wherever it can and does not pay attention to creating, arranging and protecting the hole.
Habitats
The badger is an animal that is widespread throughout Europe. Numerous populations of the animal are observed in Russia. In our country, the animal is found almost everywhere. Ural mountains, in addition to the far north and arid regions. Badgers also live in Korea and China, and on some islands of Japan.
The animal prefers to settle in dense mixed forests. Badgers are rarely seen in steppe regions. The animals live mainly in places where there is an abundance of bushes and tall grasses, and the soil is never flooded by surface waters.
Reproduction
The mating season for badgers begins in mid-spring or early summer. During this period, the animals begin to search suitable pair, which subsequently persists for life. The union between a female and a male ends only in the event of the death of one of the individuals.
Pregnancy in animals is characterized by delays. Carrying babies in the womb usually occurs for 9 months. However, it may be delayed for up to one year.
Badger cubs are born deaf, blind and completely unadapted to life. The only food for them during the first three months is mother's milk. Badger cubs acquire relative independence after about six months. Upon reaching this age, young individuals, as a rule, leave the parental nest and go in search of unoccupied territory. Finding themselves in open spaces free from the encroachments of their relatives, young badgers set up their own home. IN natural environment the animals live up to 14-16 years.
Badger nutrition in nature
Despite their status as a predator, badgers are classified as omnivores. The daily diet of animals can undergo significant changes based on the time of year. Badgers are nocturnal hunters. During the daytime, these animals prefer to remain in the safety of their burrows, digesting food and gaining energy.
In summer, in the places where badgers live, there are plenty of all kinds of rodents, frogs and lizards. It is these creatures that form the diet of animals in the warm season. Among other things, badgers do not mind eating earthworms, large insects and their larvae, as well as all kinds of mollusks and slugs. IN in rare cases their prey turns out to be birds that are in trouble. Sometimes badgers climb low trees, where they destroy bird nests. also in summer time The food for the animal is sweet plant roots, berries, nuts, mushrooms, and wild fruits.
With the arrival of autumn, badgers regularly make forays into farmland. Here the animals search for crop residues, absorbing grains of corn, legumes, and other cultivated plants. In winter, when there is a shortage of food, these animals are able to travel tens of kilometers in search of prey, then returning back to a warm and cozy hole.
badger hole
An underground shelter is a place with which the existence of an animal is inextricably linked. Members of the family prefer not to go more than half a kilometer from the holes where badgers live. This happens only when the animal feels an extreme shortage of food.
The passages in the ground that badgers create with their powerful clawed paws are striking in their size and ornate structure. The shelter of a family of animals can extend up to 80 meters or more. As a rule, there are several exits from the hole. If the population of animals in a particular territory grows to a significant size, neighboring groups can connect their shelters. At the same time, animals from separate families often come to visit each other. The owners of the burrows are absolutely calm about this behavior.
The burrows where badgers live undergo “general cleaning” several times a year. At the end of autumn, the animals traditionally clean the nesting chambers from accumulated debris, and also change the bedding, which consists of dry grasses and moss. Badgers relieve themselves every time in the same place, moving away from the shelter at a distance of several tens of meters.
Relationship with a person
Badgers are hunted for meat extremely rarely. After all, the animal has a rather specific, somewhat repulsive aroma. Dishes prepared from badger meat do not have a very pleasant taste. The fur of the animal also has no commercial value.
Of interest to humans is exclusively badger fat, which is found wide application in the treatment of diseases traditional methods. The study of the beneficial properties of this substance became the reason for organizing farms where they breed animals. Raising badgers for fat these days is quite profitable business. The animals are easy to tame. However, it is difficult for them to get along with dogs, towards which badgers show particular hostility and aggression.
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