Badger

Badgers are short-legged mammals found across Europe, Africa, North America and Asia. 

 Physical description 

Badgers have wide bodies, with short legs for digging.James C. Halfpenny, A Field Guide to Mammal Tracking in Western America (Boulder: Johnson Books, 1986), p. 87 They have long weasel-like heads with small ears. Their tails vary in length depending on species. They have black faces with white markings and grey bodies with a light-coloured stripe from head to tail. They have dark legs with light coloured underbellies. They grow to around  in length including the tail. The European badger is one of the largest badgers. The American badger, the hog badger and the honey badger are a little smaller and lighter. They weigh around 9.1–11 kg (20–24 lb) on average, with some badgers in Europe and Asia weighing about 18 kg (40 lb)

A male badger is called a boar.Michael Leach, Badger (New York: Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2009), p. 5 A female is called a sow. A young badger is called a cub. 

Distribution
Badgers are found in North America, Ireland,  Britain and most of Europe. The Javan ferret-badger lives in Indonesia. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of data deficient The Bornean ferret-badger lives in Malaysia. The honey badger is found in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Desert, southern Levant, Turkmenistan, and India.

 Behavior 
Badgers all live underground.L. DeVere Burton, Fish & wildlife: principles of zoology and ecology (New York: Thompson/Delmar, 2010), p. 178 They live in burrows called setts, which may be very large. Some live on their own, moving from home to home. Others are known to form family groups called cetes. Between two and fifteen badgers can live in a cete at one time. Badgers can run or gallop at speeds of up to 25–30 km/h (16–19 mph) for short periods of time. Badgers are only active at night. They can dig a hole fast enough to escape most predators. They fill in the hole behind them as they dig.

 Food

The badger’s diet is mainly small mammals; mice, gophers and squirrels. They eat amphibians, reptiles and birds. Badgers also eat earthworms, insects, grubs, and bird eggs. They will sometimes eat roots and fruit. In Britain, they are the main predator of hedgehogs. Badgers have been known to become drunk from the alcohol found in rotting fruit.

Classification
Family Mustelidae
 Subfamily Melinae

 Genus Arctonyx
 Hog badger, Arctonyx collaris
 Genus Meles
 Japanese badger, Meles anakuma
 Asian badger, Meles leucurus
 European badger, Meles meles
 Genus Melogale 
 Burmese ferret-badger, Melogale personata
 Javan ferret-badger, Melogale orientalis
 Chinese ferret-badger, Melogale moschata
 Bornean ferret-badger, Melogale everetti
 Vietnam ferret-badger, Melogale cucphuongensis
 Subfamily Mellivorinae
 Honey badger or ratel, Mellivora capensis
 Subfamily Taxideinae:
 †Chamitataxus avitus
 †Pliotaxidea nevadensis
 †Pliotaxidea garberi
 American badger, Taxidea taxus
 Subfamily Mustelinae

 Family Mephitidae
 Genus Mydaus
 Indonesian or Sunda stink badger (teledu), Mydaus javanensis
 Palawan stink badger, Mydaus marchei

 References 

Category:Mustelids