Each family lives in an underground den. Group members scent mark each other for recognition. Badgers do not hibernate, but in cold weather, they may sleep in the den for two or three nights in a row. The badger is a true omnivore, it eats both plant and animal life. Its usual food includes earthworms, slugs, insects, and frogs, a variety of roots, plants and fruits, and mammals, such as rabbits, moles, and rats, especially their young.
Badgers search for food at dusk.
Their eyesight is poor, so they rely on their sharp senses of smell and hearing to detect food sources. Groups of badgers often forage together, although the dominant boar takes the best for himself. Badgers mate year round, but are most active from late winter to midsummer. Implantation of the eggs in the womb is delayed until December, and young are born in the following February. Usually, three to four cubs are born underground in a special nursery area.