March Gladness – Go Badgers!

I took this photo at the Milwaukee Zoo last March. Usually, it’s hard to spot a badger even at the zoo, as they like to dig and burrow by nature and are not as active in the daytime. However, the warming temperatures brought this one out to enjoy some sunshine. In captivity, the average badger lifespan is Sweet 16, but not in the wild. The oldest wild badger was but 14 years old. These animals prefer a solitary lifestyle. Typically, you won’t find more than 5 badgers in a square kilometer. They are not party animals. They are skilled diggers with powerful jaws. They prey on rodents and other earth-dwellers and supplement their diet with corn and sunflower seeds. They wisely store and cache food as well.

Badger meat has been included in some cultures’ cuisine, such as French and North American; their fur was used in the past to make shaving and paint brushes because of its fine ability to retain water. Its greatest predator is, in fact, humans. They destroy their habitat and sometimes poison them to stop them from digging tunnels in pasture land. However, in British Columbia, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, hunting badgers is illegal. I’m glad.

8 thoughts on “March Gladness – Go Badgers!”

Speaking of Sweet 16…tonight’s the night. Go Bucky Badger! I have yet to see a live badger, but I’ll look for one if I ever get back to the Milwaukee zoo.

scillagrace says:

March 26, 2015 at 2:43 pm

Go, Bucky! On Wisconsin! Hail the Badger!

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Badgers sometimes team-hunt with foxes. I have a 12 million year old badger fossil skull; they’ve been around a long time!
Great shot! 🙂

scillagrace says:

March 26, 2015 at 2:44 pm

And coyotes, I read. Your badger skull is a great treasure, I’m sure…do you have a ‘home museum’, as I do?

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Ahh but doesn’t look like a British badger which are in the middle of a TB dilemma.

scillagrace says:

March 27, 2015 at 7:11 am

Thanks for your comment! Yes, I see a difference: British badgers have a more distinct striping – Mr. Badger in Wind in the Willows as opposed to Frances who likes bread & jam but not bedtime (for children’s literature references). And I read that they are being “culled” (ahem, how is that not “killed”?) because of the threat of them spreading bovine TB. It’s funny how we don’t like to see cattle as an invasive species…. ya know?

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