American Badger

Appearance

The American badger has most of the general characteristics common to badgers; with stocky and low-slung bodies with short, powerful legs, they are identifiable by their huge foreclaws and distinctive head markings.

American badgers possess morphological characteristics that enable them to be good fossorial specialists, such as a conical head, bristles on the ears, and nictitating membranes in the eyes. American badgers have powerful forelimbs. They also possess a strong humerus and large bony processes for the attachment of muscles. The mechanical advantage in badger forelimbs is increased by the specialized olecranon process and bones such as the radius and metacarpals.

Measuring generally between 60 and 75 cm in length, males of the species are slightly larger than females. They may attain an average weight of roughly 6.3 to 7.2 kg for females and up to 8.6 kg for males. Northern subspecies such as "T. t. jeffersonii" are heavier than the southern subspecies. In the fall, when food is plentiful, adult male badgers can reach up to 11.5 to 15 kg. In some northern populations, females can average 9.5 kg.

Except for the head, the American badger is covered with a grizzled, brown, black and white coat of coarse hair or fur, giving almost a mixed brown-tan appearance. The coat aids in camouflage in grassland habitat. Its triangular face shows a distinctive black and white pattern, with brown or blackish "badges" marking the cheeks and a white stripe extending from the nose to the base of the head. In the subspecies "T. t. berlandieri", the white head stripe extends the full length of the body, to the base of the tail.

Behavior

American badgers are generally nocturnal; however, in remote areas with no human encroachment they are routinely observed foraging during the day. Seasonally, a badger observed during daylight hours in the spring months of late March to early May often represents a female foraging during daylight and spending nights with her young. Badgers do not hibernate but may become less active in winter. A badger may spend much of the winter in cycles of torpor that last around 29 hours. They do emerge from their burrows when the temperature is above freezing.

As a fossorial mammal, the American badger uses a scratch-digging process where the forelimbs are withdrawn to break the soil and move the debris behind or to the sides of its body

An abandoned badger burrow may be occupied by mammals of similar size, such as foxes and skunks, as well as animals as diverse as the burrowing owl, tiger salamander and California red-legged frog.

The American badger has been seen working with a coyote in tandem while hunting. Typically this pairing is one badger to one coyote; however, one study found about 9% of sightings included two coyotes to one badger, while 1% had one badger to three coyotes. Researchers have found that the coyote benefits by an increased catch rate of about 33%, and while it is difficult to see precisely how the badger benefits, the badger has been noted to spend more time underground and active. Badgers are also thought to expend less energy while hunting in burrows.

Habitat

American badgers prefer grasslands and open areas with grasslands, which can include parklands, farms, and treeless areas with friable soil and a supply of rodent prey. They may also be found in forest glades and meadows, marshes, brushy areas, hot deserts, and mountain meadows. They are sometimes found at elevations up to 12,000 feet but are usually found in the Sonoran and Transition life zones. In Arizona, they occur in desert scrub and semi-arid grasslands. In California, American badgers are primarily able to survive through a combination of open grasslands of agricultural lands, protected land trust and open space lands, and regional and state and national park lands with grassland habitat. Badgers are occasionally found in open chaparral and riparian zones. They are not usually found in mature chaparral. In Manitoba aspen parklands, American badger abundance was positively associated with the abundance of Richardson's ground squirrels.
In Ontario it primarily resides on the extreme southwestern portion of the province, restricted to the north shore of Lake Erie in open areas generally associated with agriculture and along woodland edges. There have been a few reports from the Bruce-Grey region.

American badger use of home range varies with season and sex. Different areas of the home range are used more frequently at different seasons and usually are related to prey availability. Males generally have larger home ranges than females. In a 1972 study, radiotransmitter-tagged American badgers had an average annual home range of 2,100 acres. The home range of one female was 1,790 acres in summer, 131 acres in fall, and 5 acres in winter. Lindzey reported average home ranges of 667 to 1,550 acres. Estimated density of American badgers in Utah scrub-steppe was one per square mile, with 10 dens in active or recent use.

As of 2014, overdevelopment of American badger habitat had resulted in reduced range, decreased prey, and forced badgers into contact with humans when foraging between fragments. Direct observations in Sonoma County, documenting habitat and badger sightings and foraging, reflect various ranges within the fragmented habitat areas from less than 1/2 mile to approximately 4 miles. Within these areas, the availability of prey and a fresh water source are key factors for the preferred habitat areas and ability to survive. Identifying and conserving habitat areas where there is year-round activity, along with identified burrowing patterns and observations of female badger territory for birthing and raising young have become critical factors in survival of the species.

Food

The American badger is a fossorial carnivore. It preys predominantly on pocket gophers, ground squirrels, moles, marmots, prairie dogs, pika, woodrats, kangaroo rats, deer mice, and voles, often digging to pursue prey into their dens, and sometimes plugging tunnel entrances with objects. The American badger is a significant predator of snakes, including rattlesnakes, and is considered the most important predator of rattlesnakes in South Dakota. They also prey on ground-nesting birds, such as the bank swallow, or sand martin, and the burrowing owl, lizards, amphibians, carrion, fish, skunks, insects, and some plant foods, such as corn, peas, green beans, mushrooms and other fungi, and sunflower seeds.