DESCRIPTION

Height at the withers: 30 cm. Gray back, black legs and belly, short white tail. Fur with long jars and thick down. White head with 2 black bands covering the eyes and extending behind the ears. Forefeet with powerful claws.

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HABITAT

The badger lives in a burrow that he digs into deciduous stands, consisting of mixed forests or hardwoods with well-stocked undergrowth. But it can also be found in areas enclosed by hedgerows, cultivated areas with diversified plots, wastelands and clearings, heaths and meadows, especially if there are water points nearby and even in the parks large area in the heart of cities. In the mountains, it can live up to more than 2000 meters above sea level, without exceeding the tree line and as long as it can build a burrow. On the other hand, he flees the wetlands. It inhabits large burrows with several rooms lined with more or less varied materials including leaves and herbs. The entrance is often located under a rock or stump. The main chamber, often 3 meters deep, is usually separated from the entrances of the burrow by galleries of 5 to 10 meters in length, which can sometimes be on several floors. This plantigrade often lives in community burrows with 3 to 10 entrances 10 to 20 meters apart. Some burrows are occupied and enlarged by successive generations for decades or even centuries.

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WAY OF LIFE

Badgers form territorial clans, but several clans can feed in the same area. Each member of a clan (except the young) feeds solitarily. Locally, females each defend a territory and that of a male can overlap several. On average, there are 5 to 8 adults per clan and young people. Most often, there are more females than males and more than one individual of each sex can breed in a year. In a burrow, 2 or 3 badgers can share a room, but usually everyone changes room and companion after a few days. It can happen that badgers share large burrows with other species (rabbit, fox).

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FOOD

The badger, is omnivorous, it eats both earthworms (up to 100 kg per year for a single badger), moles, small rodents, insects, mushrooms, herbaceous plants, eggs of birds that nest on the ground, fruits, seeds, nests of wasps (their sting is harmless on its thick coat). A researcher found 160 wasps in a badger's dung.

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BREEDING

A female can mate with several males of the same clan and can sometimes be receptive at other times of the year (which explains some "off-period" births).
The fertilized egg remains on hold for 10 months before settling in the uterus.
The gestation period itself only lasts about two months. The young will be born the following year in February - March. Newborns are born pink and have a poor gray coat. Blind at birth, their eyes open at 5 weeks. Their baby teeth come out 4 to 6 weeks. Young people stay in the burrow for at least 8 weeks before gradually getting used to looking for their own food. During weaning, the mother may regurgitate half-digested food. At 3 months their definitive teeth appear and they are normally weaned, but weaning can be delayed by 4 to 6 months if food is scarce. After weaning, young people stay with their mothers, with whom they often spend the first winter. At one year they are driven out of the clan. Males reach sexual maturity from 9 to 18 months and females from 1 to 2 years of age, but in general, first breeding does not occur for at least 2 years.

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THREAT

Although it is in no way a vector of rabies unlike the fox, European badger yet has been hunted for this reason. As a result of the long-time burrowing of rabbits for the control of vulpine rabies, its numbers have fallen sharply in several European countries (France, for example).
The badger is also accused of causing crop damage. Underground hunting involves driving the badger into its burrow by at least three dogs that are introduced by the diggers. Pregnant females are not spared. For the digging, we use dogs such as the German Dachshund. This is a traditional hunting mode that has become illegal in several countries. In France, underground hunting takes place from 15 September to 15 January, but may be extended for a further period from 15 May to 15 September with prefectural authorization.
Hunters give themselves the solutions
Hunters and trappers accuse the badger of committing damage. In truth :

• Crop damage is small "The damage that the badger can do in crops is only very troublesome locally and they mainly concern corn, wheat, oats and vines ..." Monthly Bulletin of the National Office of the Chasse, n ° 104

• Preventive methods are effective: "The preventive method appears to be the best way to avoid damage ... The laying of an electric wire 15 cm above the ground has proved its effectiveness." Bulletin of the ONC (cited work).

       A rope coated with repellent stretched 15 cm from the ground before the foreseeable period of damage plays the same role.

• Burrows likely to cause land subsidence are only troublesome if they are dug at the bottom of dikes. It is enough to make the occupant flee by introducing rags soaked in a repellent and re-cover.

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