Free to follow every thread. No paywall, no dead ends.
European badger: the story on HearLore | HearLore
European badger
The source of the word badger is a white mark on the forehead that resembles a badge, a detail that has defined the animal's identity for centuries. This distinctive facial pattern, consisting of a wide white band extending from the nose tip through the forehead and crown, serves not as camouflage but as a warning signal to potential attackers. The European badger, scientifically known as Meles meles, is a powerfully built mustelid with a stocky body, small black eyes, and a short tail. Its weight fluctuates dramatically with the seasons, starting at around 15 kilograms in spring and building up to 24 kilograms in autumn before the winter sleep period. This seasonal weight gain is critical for survival, as the animal prepares to enter a state of winter sleep, or brumation, where it may remain underground for months. The badger's physical form is a testament to its evolutionary history, with a massive skull featuring prominent sagittal crests that can reach 15 millimeters in height in old males. These crests anchor powerful jaw muscles and protect the brain from hard blows, a necessary adaptation for an animal that can bite down with enough force to amputate a human wrist. Despite their ferocity when provoked, badgers are generally docile, yet their ability to fight viciously when cornered has made them a subject of fascination and fear throughout human history.
Architects of the Earth
A single badger sett can extend for hundreds of meters underground, housing multiple families and serving as a home for decades. These complex burrow systems are the most elaborate of any badger species, featuring multiple chambers and entrances that can number up to fifty in a single sett. Badgers are fastidiously clean animals that carry in fresh bedding of grass, bracken, straw, and moss, sometimes bringing up to 30 bundles to the sett on a single night. They regularly clear out and discard old bedding to prevent parasite levels from building up, a process known as spring cleaning that is connected with the birth of cubs. The nesting chamber is located several meters underground, often more than 1.5 meters deep, and is situated in a position that offers protection from the elements and predators. When a badger dies within the sett, its conspecifics will seal off the chamber and dig a new one, or they may drag the dead out and bury them outside. These setts are almost invariably located near a tree, which is used by badgers for stretching or claw scraping. The badger's digging ability is so profound that the Germanic term for the animal, dasse, likely derives from the Proto-Indo-European root meaning to construct, highlighting the deep connection between the animal and its subterranean world. The sett is not just a home but a legacy, passed down from generation to generation, with some setts being used for centuries.
What is the scientific name of the European badger?
The scientific name of the European badger is Meles meles. This species is a powerfully built mustelid with a stocky body, small black eyes, and a short tail.
How much does a European badger weigh in autumn?
A European badger weighs up to 24 kilograms in autumn before entering winter sleep. This weight gain starts from around 15 kilograms in spring and is critical for survival during the brumation period.
When did bovine tuberculosis first appear in European badgers?
Bovine tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis was first observed in badgers in 1951 in Switzerland. The disease was later detected in the United Kingdom in 1971 and linked to an outbreak in cattle.
How many chambers can a single badger sett contain?
A single badger sett can contain up to fifty chambers and entrances. These complex burrow systems extend for hundreds of meters underground and house multiple families for decades.
What is the average lifespan of a European badger in the wild?
European badgers can live for up to about fifteen years in the wild. Some individuals have been recorded reaching even greater ages beyond this average.
When was badger-baiting outlawed in the United Kingdom?
Badger-baiting was outlawed in the United Kingdom by the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 and again by the Protection of Animals Act 1911. Further offences are committed under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
Earthworms are the most important food source for the European badger, followed by large insects, carrion, cereals, fruit, and small mammals. This highly adaptable omnivore is one of the least carnivorous members of the Carnivora order, with a diet that encompasses a wide range of animals and plants. Badgers are able to destroy wasp nests, consuming the occupants, combs, and envelope, as their thick skin and body hair protect them from stings. They are also known to kill hedgehogs by turning them inside out and eating the meat, leaving the inverted skin uneaten. In areas where vegetable food is scarce, badgers rely on rabbits as a principal food source, catching young rabbits by locating their position in their nest by scent and digging vertically downwards to them. Despite their reputation as fierce predators, badgers typically do not eat more than 1.5 kilograms of food per day, with young specimens yet to attain one year of age eating more than adults. An adult badger weighing 15 kilograms eats a quantity of food equal to 3.4% of its body weight. Badgers characteristically capture large numbers of one food type in each hunt and generally do not transport it to their setts. Surplus killing has been observed in chicken coops, and some rogue badgers may kill lambs, though this is very rare. The badger's ability to adapt its diet to the available resources has allowed it to thrive in a wide variety of habitats, from deciduous and mixed woodlands to suburban areas and urban parks.
The Social Burrow
European badgers are the most social of badgers, forming groups of six adults on average, though larger associations of up to 23 individuals have been recorded. A hierarchical social system exists among badgers, with large powerful boars asserting dominance over smaller males. Badgers groom each other very thoroughly with their claws and teeth, a behavior that may have a social function beyond mere hygiene. They are crepuscular and nocturnal in habits, with territorial aggression largely associated with territorial defense and mating. When fighting, they bite each other on the neck and rump, while running and chasing each other, and injuries incurred in such fights can be severe and sometimes fatal. Badgers have an extensive vocal repertoire, emitting deep growls when threatened, low noises when fighting, barking when surprised, whickering when playing or in distress, and emitting a piercing scream when alarmed or frightened. The social structure of badgers is complex, with dominant sows suppressing the reproduction of subordinate females. Only dominant sows can breed, and they may kill the cubs of subordinates. The average litter consists of one to five cubs, and although many cubs are sired by resident males, up to 54% can be fathered by boars from different colonies. Cubs are born pink, with greyish, silvery fur and fused eyelids, and they emerge from their setts at eight weeks of age. Subordinate females assist the mother in guarding, feeding, and grooming the cubs, and cubs fully develop their adult coats at six to nine weeks. Badgers can live for up to about fifteen years in the wild, with some individuals reaching even greater ages.
The Winter Slumber
Badgers begin to prepare for winter sleep during late summer by accumulating fat reserves, which reach a peak in October. During this period, the sett is cleaned and the nesting chamber is filled with bedding. Upon retiring to sleep, badgers block their sett entrances with dry leaves and earth, and they typically stop leaving their setts once snow has fallen. In Russia and the Nordic countries, European badgers retire for winter sleep from late October to mid-November and emerge from their setts in March and early April. In areas such as England and Transcaucasia, where winters are less harsh, badgers either forgo winter sleep entirely or spend long periods underground, emerging in mild spells. The winter sleep is a critical survival strategy, allowing badgers to conserve energy during the coldest months when food is scarce. During this period, badgers may take their bedding outside on sunny mornings and retrieve it later in the day. The ability to enter a state of torpor allows badgers to survive in a wide range of climates, from the harsh winters of Russia to the milder winters of the Mediterranean. The winter sleep is not a true hibernation, as badgers can be aroused from their sleep if disturbed, and they may emerge from their setts during mild spells to forage for food. The winter sleep is a testament to the badger's adaptability and resilience, allowing it to thrive in a wide variety of environments.
The Disease and the Cull
Bovine tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis is a major mortality factor in badgers, though infected badgers can live and successfully breed for years before succumbing. The disease was first observed in badgers in 1951 in Switzerland, where they were believed to have contracted it from chamois or roe deer. It was detected in the United Kingdom in 1971, where it was linked to an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis in cows. The evidence appears to indicate that the badger is the primary reservoir of infection for cattle in the southwest of England, Wales, and Ireland. Since then, there has been considerable controversy as to whether culling badgers will effectively reduce or eliminate bovine tuberculosis in cattle. Until the 1980s, badger culling in the United Kingdom was undertaken in the form of gassing, to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis. Limited culling resumed in 1998 as part of a 10-year randomized trial cull, which was considered by John Krebs and others to show that culling was ineffective. In 2012, the government authorized a limited cull led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which was later deferred. In August 2013, a full culling programme began where about 5,000 badgers were killed over six weeks in West Somerset and Gloucestershire by marksmen with high-velocity rifles. The cull caused many protests with emotional, economic, and scientific reasons being cited. A scientific study of culling from 2013 to 2017 has shown a reduction of 36, 55% incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle, but the efficacy of this practice remains strongly disputed. The badger is considered an iconic species of the British countryside, though it is not endangered, and the culling of badgers is widely considered cruel and inhumane.
The Badger in Myth and Lore
Badgers play a part in European folklore and are featured in modern literature, from Irish mythology where they are portrayed as shape-shifters and kinsmen to Tadg, the king of Tara, to German folklore where the badger is portrayed as a cautious, peace-loving Philistine. In Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Badger is depicted as a gruff, solitary figure who simply hates society, yet is a good friend to Mole and Ratty. As a friend of Toad's now-deceased father, he is often firm and serious with Toad, but at the same time generally patient and well-meaning towards him. He can be seen as a wise hermit, a good leader, and gentleman, embodying common sense. He is also brave and a skilled fighter, and helps rid Toad Hall of invaders from the wild wood. In T. H. White's Arthurian series The Once and Future King, the young King Arthur is transformed into a badger by Merlin as part of his education. He meets with an older badger who tells him I can only teach you two things to dig, and love your home. A villainous badger named Tommy Brock appears in Beatrix Potter's 1912 book The Tale of Mr. Tod, where he is shown kidnapping the children of Benjamin Bunny and his wife Flopsy, and hiding them in an oven at the home of Mr. Tod the fox. The portrayal of the badger as a filthy animal which appropriates fox dens was criticized from a naturalistic viewpoint, though the inconsistencies are few and employed to create individual characters rather than evoke an archetypical fox and badger. A wise old badger named Trufflehunter appears in C. S. Lewis' Prince Caspian, where he aids Caspian X in his struggle against King Miraz. The badger is also the house symbol for Hufflepuff in the Harry Potter book series, and the Redwall series also has the Badger Lords, who rule the extinct volcano fortress of Salamandastron and are renowned as fierce warriors.
The Badger's Skin and Skin
Badger skins are thick, loose, and covered in long hair which acts as protection, and their heavily ossified skulls allow them to shrug off most blunt traumas, as well as shotgun pellets. The hair of the European badger has been used for centuries for making sporrans and shaving brushes. Sporrans are traditionally worn as part of male Scottish highland dress, forming a bag or pocket made from a pelt and a badger or other animal's mask may be used as a flap. The pelt was also formerly used for pistol furniture. Badger meat is eaten in some districts of the former Soviet Union, though in most cases it is discarded. Smoked hams made from badgers were once highly esteemed in England, Wales, and Ireland. Some badger products have been used for medical purposes, with badger expert Ernest Neal quoting from an 1810 edition of The Sporting Magazine that the flesh, blood, and grease of the badger are very useful for oils, ointments, salves, and powders, for shortness of breath, the cough of the lungs, for the stone, sprained sinews, and collachs. The skin being well dressed is very warm and comfortable for ancient people who are troubled with paralytic disorders. Badger-baiting was once a popular blood sport, in which badgers were captured alive, placed in boxes, and attacked with dogs. In the UK, this was outlawed by the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 and again by the Protection of Animals Act 1911. Moreover, the cruelty towards and killing of the badger constitute offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, and further offences under this act are inevitably committed to facilitate badger-baiting. If convicted, badger-baiters may face a sentence of up to six months in jail, a fine of up to £5,000, and other punitive measures, such as community service or a ban from owning dogs. The badger's skin and fur have been valued for their durability and warmth, but the animal's role in human culture extends far beyond its physical attributes, making it a subject of fascination and controversy throughout history.