The American Badger is a member of the Mustelidae family, which also includes skunks, otters, weasels, martens, and wolverines.
Badgers live predominantly solitary lives in a variety of habitats from plains, to prairies, to farmland, or at the edges of woods and thorn thickets.
Badgers dine on ground squirrels, rats, gophers, and mice. Sometimes, they eat snakes, birds, and reptiles, as well.
“The American badger has a flat body with short legs and a triangular face with a long, pointed, tipped-up, nose. It has long brown or black fur with white stripes on its cheeks and one stripe running from its nose to the back of its head. It has small ears on the side of its head and long, sharp front claws.” Source: Nature Works (NH PBS)
“The American badger mates between July and August, but the embryos don’t really start to grow until December or February…The female gives birth in March. She has 1 – 5 babies in an underground nest lined with grass.” Source: Nature Works (NH PBS)
You may learn more about the American Badger at the following sites:
- Texas Parks & Wildlife on Badgers
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on Badgers
- iNaturalist Observations for the American Badger
- iNaturalist Observations for Mustelids (Family Mustelidae)
