For shelter, it either excavates a burrow or modifies one initially made by another animal. The burrow can be as long as 10 meters and can extend as much as 3 meters below the surface. Taxidea may be active at any hour but is mainly nocturnal. Its movements are restricted, especially in winter, and it shows a strong attachment to a home area. The badger is active all year, but it may sleep in its den for several days or weeks during severe winter weather.
Most food is obtained by excavating the burrows of fossorial rodents, such as ground squirrels.
Food is sometimes buried and used later. If a sizable meal, such as a rabbit, is obtained, the badger may dig a hole, carry in the prey, and remain below ground with it for several days. The ranges overlapped, but individuals were solitary, except during the reproductive season. A female radiotracked in Minnesota used an area of 752 ha. She had 50 dens within this area and was never found in the same den on two consecutive days.