Skunks also tend to have larger, fluffier tails. Badger relatives, like otters, weasels, and polecats, may also cause confusion. These pests have somewhat similar body types to badgers and love digging dens and storing food underground. However, most otters, weasels, and polecats are smaller than badgers. They also have different habits and habitats.
Many badger-like animals are quick to hide when alarmed and can be difficult to detect. They generally stay away from humans but can annoy homeowners by tearing up lawns and gardens. However, badgers and their cousins help to control insects and reptiles and aerate the soil by digging. Badgers may look cute, but they can be hostile towards outdoor dogs and cats when provoked. If these pests or any badger relatives become problems around the home, Trutech can provide prevention, exclusion, and removal services.
We provide immediate assistance if you discover a living or dead animal in your home. Most badgers are omnivores, which means they eat both plants and meat. Typically, though, they mainly consume earthworms and the larvae of daddy long legs, according to the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. Some other foods badgers enjoy include slugs, small mammals, snails, bird eggs and fruit.
The honey badger is a carnivore and will eat snakes, jackals, foxes, and even crocodiles, according to BioWeb , a website produced at the University of Wisconsin. It also eats smaller animals, such as insects and larvae.
It will also hunt down beehives to get to the honey, hence its common name and scientific name — Mellivora means "honey eater. Though badgers mate any time they feel like it, they only have one litter per year due to delayed implantation. Badgers give birth in mid- to late winter between birth to between January and March. One to five babies are born at one time in the underground chambers. Baby badgers, like baby bears, are called cubs. Cubs remain in the birthing chamber until they are about eight weeks old, according to the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
The American badger , for example, has a population of several hundred thousand in the United States. The hog badger is listed as near threatened because of a population decline of less than 30 percent over three generations. Yellow staining from the subcaudal scent gland can be seen in older adults.
Badger eyes are relatively small and are black. There are no noticeable colouring differences between male boar and female sow badgers. Badger cubs are born with very light silvery hairs and after a few days the facial stripes appear; they then develop to have the same markings as adults. There are other forms of pigmentation within the badger population, which can almost give the appearance of different species:. The eyes will probably be red or pink in colour. The leucistic badger is a condition where there is a partial loss of pigmentation which gives the animal an appearance of patches of light colour on the hair.
There is no loss of pigmentation in the eyes, so the eyes will be black. This helps distinguish the difference between an albino badger or leucistic badger. The erythristic badger has mainly sandy or gingery colour hair on the back and sides and the hair on the underbelly can be a shade of red. The eyes will normally be light brown in colour but in some cases they may have a reddish appearance.
A badger which is extremely rare is the melanistic badger and sightings of this animal are uncommon. The pigmentation of a melanistic badger is mainly black. The eyes will be black. Badgers have been living side by side with hedgehogs for centuries but will occasionally prey on them if their main food sources of worms and grubs are not abundant.
Hedgehogs are currently undergoing a sharp decline in rural habitats and unfairly, badgers are often blamed. A report on hedgehog declines read here , owed the reduction of rural hedgehogs to mainly habitat loss, through the intensification of agriculture and fewer hedgerows.
This habitat reduction is more than likely affecting badgers as well. More work needs to be done to maintain natural habitats and to re-establish a balanced ecosystem for all species. The fascinating lives of badgers.
Play Video. Badger bringing in fresh bedding at night. Scent marking. It's Badger Cub Season! Badgers and foxes.
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