Badgers are found primarily in the Great Plains region of North America. Badgers occur north through the central western Canadian provinces, in appropriate habitat throughout the western United States, and south throughout the mountainous areas of Mexico. They have expanded their range since the turn of the 20th century and are now found as far east as Ontario, Canada.

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)) Southern Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and southern Ontario), south and west to Texas, and Puebla and Baja California, Mexico (Wozencraft, in Wilson and Reeder 1993; Long, in Wilson and Ruff 1999).

Badgers measure 520 to 875 mm from head to tail, with the tail making up only 100 to 155 mm of this length. Badgers weigh 4 to 12 kg. The body is flattened, and the legs are short and stocky. The fur on the back and flanks of the animal ranges from grayish to reddish. The ventrum is a buffy color. The face of the badger is distinct. The throat and chin are whitish, and the face has black patches. A white dorsal stripe extends back over the head from the nose. In northern populations, this stripe ends near the shoulders. In southern populations, however, it continues over the back to the rump. Males are significantly larger than females and animals from northern populations are larger than those from southern populations.

Range mass: 4 to 12 kg.

Range length: 520 to 875 mm.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; heterothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: male larger

Average basal metabolic rate: 15.062 W.

Length: 87 cm

Weight: 11400 grams

Other North American mammals of similar size and shape (low flat profile) include skunks and wolverine; differs from skunks in lacking extensive black pelage, differs from wolverine in having a white middorsal head stripe.

• Terrestrial

Badgers prefer to live in dry, open grasslands, fields, and pastures. They are found from high alpine meadows to sea level (or below in Death Valley, California).

Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; chaparral ; mountains

Wetlands: marsh

Other Habitat Features: agricultural

Comments: Prefers open areas and may also frequent brushlands with little groundcover. When inactive, occupies underground burrow.

Young are born in underground burrows. In Idaho, activites of females with young (March-May) centered on a sequence of maternal dens (Messick and Hornocker 1981).

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

In Idaho, home ranges of adult males averaged 2.4 square kilometers, whereas those of females averaged 1.6 square kilometers; most young-of-the-year dispersed during their first summer, up to 110 km in males, up to 52 km in females (Messick and Hornocker 1981).

In southeastern Wyoming, home ranges averaged 12.3 square kilometers in males, 3.4 square kilometers in females (Goodrich and Buskirk 1998).

A female in Minnesota had a summer home range of 7.5 square kilometers and moved to an adjacent, but much smaller area in the winter (Sargeant and Warner 1972).

Where favorable habitat is patchier, home ranges can be significantly larger. In southeastern British Columbia, male home ranges averaged 69 square kilometers (fixed kernel method) and those of females averaged 38 square kilometers (Newhouse and Kinley 2000).

Badgers are carnivorous. Their dominant prey are pocket gophers (Geomyidae), ground squirrels (Spermophilus), moles (Talpidae), marmots (Marmota), prairie dogs (Cynomys), woodrats (Neotoma), kangaroo rats (Dipodomys), deer mice (Peromyscus), and voles (Microtus). They also prey on ground nesting birds, such as bank swallows (Riparia riparia and burrowing owls Athene cunicularia), lizards, amphibians, carrion, fish, hibernating skunks (Mephitis and Spilogale), insects, including bees and honeycomb, and some plant foods, such as corn (Zea) and sunflower seeds (Helianthus). Unlike many carnivores that stalk their prey in open country, badgers catch most of their food by digging. They can tunnel after ground dwelling rodents with amazing speed. They have been known to cache food.

Animal Foods: birds; mammals; amphibians; reptiles; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods

Foraging Behavior: stores or caches food

Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats terrestrial vertebrates)

Comments: Feeds primarily on small rodents usually captured by digging out burrow. Ground squirrels often major item in diet, as are pocket gophers, kangaroo rats, priairie dogs, and mice; also eats scorpions, insects, snakes, lizards, and birds, especially when ground squirrel population is low (Messick and Hornocker 1981).

Badgers are important consumers of many small prey items in their ecosystem. They help to control rodent populations, kill venomous snakes, and eat insects and carrion. Their burrows provide shelter for other species and their digging activity helps in soil development.

Badgers and coyotes are sometimes seen hunting at the same time in an apparently cooperative manner. Badgers can readily dig rodents out of burrows but cannot run them down readily. Coyotes, on the other hand, can readily run rodents down while above ground, but cannot effectively dig them out of burrows. When badgers and coyotes hunt in the same area at the same time, they may increase the number of rodents available to the other. Coyotes take advantage of rodents attempting to escape from badgers attacking their burrows and it has been demonstrated that coyotes benefit from the association. Badgers may be able to take advantage of rodents that are escaping coyotes by fleeing into burrows, but it is more difficult to assess whether badgers actually do benefit from this association. Badgers and coyotes tolerate each other's presence and may even engage in play behavior.

Ecosystem Impact: creates habitat; soil aeration

Mutualist Species:

• coyotes (Canis latrans)

Natural predation on badgers is rare, with young animals being most vulnerable. The primary predators of badgers are humans who are responsible for habitat destruction, trapping, hunting, automobile fatalities, and poisoning. Other reported predators of American badgers include golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), bobcats (Lynx rufus), cougars (Puma concolor), and coyotes (Canis latrans). Bears (Ursus) and gray wolves (Canis lupus) may also sometimes take badgers.

Known Predators:

• humans (Homo sapiens)
• golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos)
• bobcats (Lynx rufus)
• cougars (Puma concolor)
• coyotes (Canis latrans)

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 81 to >300

100,000 - 1,000,000 individuals

Comments: U.S. population roughly estimated to be on the order of several hundred thousand; Canadian population less than 50,000 (Newhouse and Kinley 1999). No estimates for Mexican population. In areas of abundance, can reach densities of 3-5/square kilometer (Long, in Wilson and Ruff 1999).

In Canada, both T. t. jacksoni in Ontario and T. t. jeffersonii in British Columbia are recognized as endangered, with as few as 200 and 600 animals remaining, respectively (Kyle et al. 2004).

Basicaly solitary, though home ranges may overlap (Messick and Hornocker 1981).

Density averages 1 per sq mile in prime open country (Long 1973). In southeastern Wyoming, density was 0.8-1.1 per sq km (Goodrich and Buskirk 1998).

In Idaho, half of the population was young-of-the-year (Messick and Hornocker 1981).

Badgers have keen vision, scent, and hearing. They have nerve endings in the foreclaws that may make them especially sensitive to touch in their forepaws, but this has not been investigated. Not much is known about communication in these normally solitary animals, but it is likely that home ranges are marked with scents that are used by conspecifics to determine reproductive readiness.

Communication Channels: chemical

Perception Channels: visual ; acoustic

Comments: Usually active day/night; reported as chiefly nocturnal in Caire et al. 1989. In Idaho, rarely stayed underground for more than 24 hours except in winter; one female emerged from winter den only once during 72-day period (Messick and Hornocker 1981).

Badgers have lived to be 26 years old in captivity. The average lifespan in the wild has been estimated by different researchers at 4 to 5 years and at 9 to 10 years. The oldest wild badger lived to 14 years. Yearly mortality was estimated at 35% by one study. Some populations are estimated to be up to 80% yearlings or young of the year, suggesting high mortality rates.

Range lifespan

Status: wild: 14 (high) years.

Range lifespan

Status: captivity: 26 (high) years.

Typical lifespan

Status: wild: 10 (high) years.

Average lifespan

Status: captivity: 26.0 years.

Average lifespan

Status: captivity: 16.0 years.

The home ranges of both male and female badgers expands during the breeding season, indicating that males and females travel more extensively to find mates. Males have larger home ranges that are likely to overlap with the home ranges of several females.

Mating System: polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Mating occurs in late summer or early autumn but embryos are arrested early in development. Implantation is delayed until December or as late as February. After this period embryos implant into the uterine wall and resume development. So, although a female is technically pregnant for 7 months, gestation is a mere 6 weeks. Litters of 1 to 5 offspring, with an average of 3, are born in early spring. Females are able to mate when they are 4 months old, but males do not mate until the autumn of their second year. Most females mate after their first year.

Breeding interval: Badgers breed once per year.

Breeding season: Badgers mate in late summer or early autumn.

Range number of offspring: 1 to 5.

Average gestation period: 6 weeks.

Range weaning age: 2 to 3 months.

Range time to independence: 5 to 6 months.

Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 4 (low) months.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 12 months.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 16 months.

Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); viviparous ; delayed implantation

Average birth mass: 93.5 g.

Average gestation period: 41 days.

Average number of offspring: 3.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

Sex: male: 441 days.

Female badgers prepare a grass-lined den in which to give birth. Badgers are born blind and helpless with a thin coat of fur. The eyes of the youngsters open at 4 to 6 weeks old, and the young are nursed by their mother until they are 2 to 3 months old. Females give their young solid food before they are weaned and for a few weeks after they are weaned. Young may emerge from the den as early as 5 to 6 weeks old. Juveniles disperse at 5 to 6 months.

Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)

Mates mid- to late summer. Implantation is delayed until December-February. One litter averaging 3 (2-5) is born March-early April (probably late May or early June in Kansas). Young leave family group in fall. In Idaho, 30% of young-of-the-year females bred; males were sexually mature as yearlings (Messick and Hornocker 1981).

American badgers are fairly common in appropriate habitats and are not generally considered threatened. In some areas they are uncommon or rare. In Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and British Columbia they are protected from hunting by law.

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N4 - Apparently Secure

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: Large range in the western and central U.S., southern Canada, and northern and central Mexico; relatively common over much of range, but probably has declined substantially in areas converted from grassland to intensive agriculture and where colonial rodents such as prairie dogs and groundsquirrels have been reduced or eliminated. Also threatened by collisions with vehicles and by direct persecution.

Intrinsic Vulnerability: Moderately vulnerable

Environmental Specificity: Moderate. Generalist or community with some key requirements scarce.

Global Short Term Trend: Relatively stable to decline of 30%

Comments: Secretive nature makes it difficult to determine trends. Long and Killingley (1983) presented evidence that badgers were declining in several western states. Messick (1987) indicated that declines were evident in Idaho, California, New Mexico, and parts of South Dakota; whereas populations appeared to be increasing in Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin and Michigan. Trends are unknown in much of U.S. range (Newhouse and Kinley 1999). Definitely has declined and is declining in British Columbia (Newhouse and Kinley 1999, 2000). Probably have declined where prairie dogs have been eliminated or reduced a great deal in numbers.

Global Long Term Trend: Increase of 10-25% to decline of 70%

Comments: Has undoubtedly declined substantially in parts of the west, where grassland habitat has been replaced by intensive agriculture, and where prey such as prairie dogs and ground squirrels have been reduced or eliminated. Numbers have "declined dramatically" in Alberta over the past 70 years-- 18,000 were harvested there in 1928 alone; now only 1000-10,000 remain in the provincial population (Scobie 2002). However, forest clearing has apparently resulted in some range expansion to the north and east in North America (Messick 1987, Scobie 2002).

Comments: Although clearing of forests for agricultural land has probably resulted in some range expansion, cultivation of grassland has undoubtedly caused declines (Soper 1964, Stardom 1979, Lindzey 1982, Messick 1987, Smith 1992, Newhouse and Kinley 1999). Likewise, intensification of agriculture is likely to cause declines in the future.

In the west, infill of formerly open woodlands and encroachment of forests into grassland as a result of effective fire suppression has eliminated or degraded much badger habitat (Newhouse and Kinley 1999).

Most mortality is caused by vehicles or deliberate killing by humans (Stardom 1979, Messick et al. 1981, Fitzgerald et al. 1994, Newhouse and Kinley 2000, Apps et al. 2002). Badgers may actually be attracted to roads, both because ground squirrels often burrow alongside them (Ketcheson and Bauer 1995), and because they are good travel routes (Warner and Ver Steeg 1995).

Badgers are trapped, shot and poisoned because their diggings are thought to cause broken legs in livestock, lead to water loss from irrigation canals, and cause damage to vehicles encountering their burrows (Scobie 2002). Declines may also be related to the persecution of their primary prey, prairie dogs and ground squirrels (Apps et al. 2002). Finley et al. (1976) speculated that some Colorado populations may have declined because of the elimination of prairie dogs.

Global Protection: Unknown whether any occurrences are appropriately protected and managed

Comments: Since badgers have extremely large home ranges, many parks would not totally protect an individual occurrence or population.

Badger burrows may present a hazard to cattle and horses. Such animals have been known to break legs by stepping into badger holes.

Badgers eat many rodent pests, which may carry disease or damage crops. In addition, their burrows provide shelter for small game mammals, like cottontail rabbits. The fur is attractive, it has been used as a trim on Native American garments and historically it was used to make shaving and painting brushes.

Positive Impacts: body parts are source of valuable material; controls pest population

Comments: Relatively little recent demand for pelt, which is of variable quality (Caire et al. 1989). In the early 1980s, an annual average of about 10,000 pelts, with an average value of about $10.00, was reported taken in the U.S. and Canada (Nowak 1991).

Valued in helping control populations of rodents deemed undesireable by some ranchers.

Comments: Four subspecies have been recognized on the basis of differences in skull size and pelage color (Long 1972): T. t. berlandieri, found in the southern United States; T. t. jacksoni, found in the north-central United States and southern Ontario in Canada; T. t. taxus, found in the Great Plains ecosystem ranging from the United States into the prairie provinces of Canada; and T. t. jeffersonii, found in western United States and southern British Columbia.

Genetic data support the current geographic delineation of the northwestern subspecies taxus and jeffersonii (Kyle et al. 2004). Gene flow between prairie populations of T. t taxus did not seem to be restricted, nor did there seem to be a restriction of gene flow for populations within mountain ranges for T. t. jeffersonii. In contrast, minimal gene flow was observed between populations separated by mountain ranges.

Taxus is a generic synonym.