According to Daniel Heath Justice, author of " Badger " Reaktion Books, , "Categories are under constant revision, rendering the taxonomic accuracy of any study … temporary at best. Justice acknowledges that there continues to be a debate about which animals should be considered "true badgers.
However, the honey badger, also called the ratel, is generally still included among "badger-kin. Badgers can grow up to 20 to 34 inches 51 to 86 centimeters long from head to tail. The tail adds an additional 4 to 6 inches 10 to 15 cm to its length. Badgers weigh between 9 and 39 pounds 4 to 18 kilograms.
Badgers prefer dry, open grasslands, though they are very adaptable. Some also live in woods, quarries, hedgerows, sea cliffs and moorland. American badgers are typically found in the Great Plains region of North America. Honey badgers are found in southern Africa; hog badgers live primarily in Southeast Asia, India and Sumatra.
Badgers occur in shrub-steppe, grassland, semi-desert, and open forest habitats, require friable soils for digging, and prey primarily on ground squirrels, pocket gophers, and a variety of other small mammals.
However, warmer and drier conditions may also allow grassland and prey expansion, especially at higher elevations, thereby possibly creating more habitat for badgers.
Based on these conditions, badgers may decline in the Columbia Basin, but increase in the east Cascades and other eastside mountainous areas. Translation limitations and disclaimer.
American badger digging for ground squirrels. Category : Mammals. Ecosystems : Shrubsteppe. Vulnerability to climate change More details. If you see this species, please share your observation using the WDFW wildlife reporting form. Providing detailed information such as a photo and exact coordinates will improve the confidence and value of this observation to WDFW species conservation and management. Description and Range Physical description.
The badger is a short-legged, wide-bodied, shaggy-furred member of the weasel family. It has a very distinctive white stripe that extends from its nose to its shoulders. The badger is an excellent digging machine and uses this skill to burrow after it's prey, small mammals, snakes and other reptiles, birds and some insects. Their claws are long and sharp and they have a reputation for ferociousness when attacked. Badgers will hunt in open country and pursue their prey into burrows with amazing speed and power.
They have few non-human predators. Like another member of the weasel family, the skunk, the badger possesses a scent gland that can emit a strong musk odor that may serve to discourage some would-be predators. Their powerfully built forelimbs allow them to tunnel rapidly through the soil and other substrates. They construct underground burrows for protection and sleeping. A typical badger den may be as far a 3 meters below the surface, contain approximately 10 meters of tunnels and an enlarged sleeping chamber.
Badgers use multiple burrows within their home range. Mating occurs in late summer or early autumn but embryos are arrested early in development. Development of the zygote pauses at the blastocyst stage, usually for about 10 months, until environmental conditions day length and temperature are appropriate for implantation in the uterus.
Implantation is delayed until December or as late as February. After this period embryos implant into the uterine wall and resume development. Although a female is technically pregnant for 7 months, the actual gestation is only 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 as young as 4 months old, but males do not mate until the autumn of their second year. Most females mate after their first year. Photo courtesy of Natures Pics.
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