American Badger
TAXIDEA TAXUS
Huge, front claws make the badger an excellent digger. Their burrows can be 10 feet deep and over 6 feet wide. A badger's den has an enlarged chamber for sleeping and they use multiple burrows within their home range. The tunnels within the burrows span about 33 feet. All that tunneling requires agile movement; therefore, badgers can run as fast backwards as they can run forwards. Although badgers may be inactive in their dens for up to a month during the winter, they are not true hibernators. Badgers go through cycles of torpor which is like hibernation but not as extreme. Badgers are solitary, spending their days hunting ground squirrels and other small rodents. They need about two per day to sustain their weight. Badgers catch most of their food by digging and will sometimes dig into the burrow of an animal and wait for it to return. Coyotes often will stand by while a badger is burrowing and catch animals that come out of a tunnel trying to escape the badger. This is known as mutualism where both organisms derive a benefit.
Click HERE for a Badger Activity Sheet!
Our Current Resident
Uki, Female - Born May 1, 2018
When Uki was a cub she was found next to her mother who had been shot. She was brought to the Wildlife Center of Montana where she quickly imprinted on her caregivers during the rehab process, deeming her unreleasable. Due to a lack of room at the Wildlife Center, Uki was donated to ZooMontana in July of 2019. Uki loves to sit on blankets and be pulled around her habitat by her caregivers like she's riding a magic carpet.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Carnivora
- Family: Mustelidae
- Genus: Taxidea
- Species: Taxidea taxus
Animal Facts
- Carnivore: eats meat such as ground squirrels, rats, gophers, and mice
- Population: stable
- Habitat: Grasslands, Plains, Forests, Tundra
- Nocturnal: active during the night
