Ways to hunt a badger in the autumn. Life of a badger in the wild

Badger (lat. Meles meles), a mammal of the mustelid family, is the only species in the genus of badgers.

Found mainly in mixed and taiga forests, less often in mountain forests; in the south of the range it is found in steppes and semi-deserts. It adheres to dry, well-drained areas, but near (up to 1 km) reservoirs or swampy lowlands, where the food supply is richer.

The badger lives in deep burrows, which it digs along the slopes of sandy hills, forest ravines and gullies. Animals from generation to generation adhere to favorite places; As special geochronological studies have shown, some of the badger towns are several thousand years old.

Single individuals use simple burrows, with one entrance and a nesting chamber.

Old badger settlements represent a complex multi-tiered underground structure with several (up to 40-50) entrance and ventilation holes and long (5-10 m) tunnels leading to 2-3 large nesting chambers lined with dry litter, located at a depth of up to 5 m.

Nesting chambers are often located under the protection of an aquifer, which prevents rain and groundwater from seeping into them. Periodically, the holes are cleaned by badgers, and the old bedding is thrown out. Often badger holes are occupied by other animals: foxes, raccoon dogs.

Badger leads night image life, although it can often be seen during daylight hours - in the morning before 8, in the evening - after 5-6 hours.

The badger is not aggressive towards predators and humans; it prefers to move away and hide in a hole or another place, but if it gets angry, it hits its nose and bites the offender, and then runs away.

The badger is omnivorous, but prefers plant foods. It feeds on mouse-like rodents, frogs, lizards, birds and their eggs, insects and their larvae, mollusks, earthworms, mushrooms, berries, nuts and grass. When hunting, a badger has to go around large areas, searching through fallen trees, peeling off the bark of trees and stumps in search of worms and insects. Sometimes in one hunt a badger gets 50-70 and more frogs, hundreds of insects and earthworms. However, he eats only 0.5 kg of food per day and only by autumn he eats up heavily and gains fat, which serves as a source of nutrition for him during winter sleep.

This is the only representative of the mustelids that hibernates during the winter. IN northern regions the badger already hibernates in October-November until March-April; in the southern regions, where winters are mild and short, it is active all year round.

Source: Wikipedia

The main passage of badger brood burrows. Photo by the author

This animal is widespread, but it is not so easy to see. Again, almost every person knows what a badger looks like. Let's take a closer look at this beast. Belonging to the mustelidae family, it has a number of peculiar habits.

Appearance

The body length ranges from 60 to 90 centimeters, the tail length does not exceed 24 centimeters. With a total body length of more than 1 meter and a height of 50-60 centimeters, the badger animal is the largest of its family. The body, tapering towards the shoulders, is connected through a short neck to an elongated head, extended towards the nose. Thus, the body, neck and head of the animal form a wedge. The legs are short and powerful. The claws on the front paws are longer than on the hind paws. This is clearly demonstrated by badger tracks.

The animal's fur consists of long awns and thick undercoat. The silver-gray color of the back and sides gradually gives way to almost black on the belly and paws. There are two wide black stripes on the muzzle, which can start from the very nose and cover the eyes and ears. The rounded tips of the ears are painted white.

The weight of the animal depends on the time of year: after waking up - up to 15 kg, before hibernation - up to 25 kg.

Habitats

Its habitat covers almost all of Europe. For Ural mountains The beast can be found almost throughout Russia (except for the extreme northern and arid regions). Also common in China, Korean Peninsula and in Japan.

Thus, according to their habitat, the following varieties can be distinguished:

European badger;
Asian badger.

This animal often lives in mixed forests. Avoids open steppes and deserts, as well as deep taiga forests. The badger's home is located in places where there is a lot of grass and bushes, and the soil does not freeze or flood. Where badgers live, there is always at least some body of water nearby: a lake, a swamp, a river.

Lifestyle and habits

Nora

The animal is nocturnal, so its vision is poorly developed, but its hearing and sense of smell are very good. During the day he mostly sleeps for night hunting.

The animal spends most of its life in a hole, which it, being able to dig excellently, builds, repairs and renews itself. These animals can live alone or in families.

In its simplest form, a badger hole consists of one entrance, a tunnel and a nesting chamber at a depth of 1 to 5 meters. The nesting chamber is always landscaped with a bedding of dry grass and leaves.

Often, badger holes are connected into a complex labyrinth of many long tunnels, dead ends, nesting chambers and entrances and exits.

It is noteworthy that this animal tries to place its nesting chambers under aquifer, thanks to which these chambers are always dry and warm. The animal regularly replaces the old bedding from the nesting chambers with fresh one.

An abandoned badger hole can become a home for a fox or raccoon dog.

It is also interesting that the animal digs special holes for its excrement.

Wintering

Having not only accumulated a sufficient amount of fat, but also filled its pantries with the necessary supplies, the animal goes into hibernation with the onset of winter. No other representative of this family winters like this. Before lying down, he covers all the entrances to the hole with leaves. However, the badger in winter does not sleep like a bear, but lightly.

He often wakes up, and in the thaw he can even leave the hole. At this time, traces of a badger can be found near the hole. Each individual overwinters in a separate nesting chamber. As soon as the snow begins to melt in the spring, the animal finally wakes up.

Nutrition

Like any representative of the mustelids, the badger is considered a predator, but in fact it is an omnivore. Long-term observations make it possible to clearly indicate what the badger eats.

His menu includes both plant and animal food, but not carrion, which he will not touch even in difficult times of hunger.

Badgers feed on insects, amphibians and reptiles: often lizards, rarely snakes. As soon as the time comes for berries, mushrooms and nuts, he willingly eats them. A badger eats no more than half a kilogram of food per day.

Reproduction

The common badger is a monogamous animal. The formed couple remains for the entire time until one of the partners dies. The badger rut begins in spring and ends in summer.

The following spring, the female gives birth to 3-5 cubs, which are blind and absolutely helpless. Pregnancy lasts from 9 to 12 months. For the first three months of life, the only food for badger cubs is mother's milk. Then the parents teach them to hunt, and the children switch to regular food.

Under natural conditions, a badger lives from 10 to 12 years.

Economic importance

The badger, destroying many pests such as chafer larvae, mole crickets, and rodents, brings enormous benefits to forestry and agriculture. However, settling next to a person, the badger does not hesitate to eat from the garden. This causes harm, but the magnitude of the benefit from it is disproportionately greater.

Badger and man

Badger fur has no commercial value. Not every hunter eats meat. The only value for humans is badger fat, used in folk medicine. This animal is hunted mainly with the help of dogs.

Thanks to beneficial properties badger fat, badger breeding has become profitable business. In captivity, these animals live 4-6 years longer than in wildlife.

The beast is easily tamed, but never gets along with dogs.

Video

You will learn how to find a badger hole in the forest from our video.

Badger or common badger is carnivorous mammal an animal that is a representative of the Mustelidae family. Animal badger – amazing creature, which combines unusual appearance, flexible character and considerable economic benefits. Below you will find photos and descriptions of badgers and you will be able to learn a lot of interesting and new things about this forest animal.

What does a badger look like?

The badger looks like a medium-sized animal. An ordinary badger has a body length from 60 to 90 cm and a weight of up to 24 kg, while the length of its tail is 20-25 cm. Males are slightly larger than females. The badger looks massive due to its unique body structure. The badger animal has an oblong body shape, resembling a forward-facing wedge.

U European badger a narrow elongated muzzle with round shiny eyes and a very short neck. The badger animal has short, strong paws, the toes of which have long claws for digging holes.

The badger looks fluffy due to its long fur, which is quite stiff. Under the main fur of the European badger there is a warm and dense undercoat. The fur of the common badger is gray or brown, often with a silvery tint, and the lower part of the body is almost black.

The badger looks quite unusual. Its white face has two broad dark stripes that extend from its nose to its small, white-tipped ears. In winter, the badger looks lighter than in summer, when its fur takes on darker shades. In the fall, the badger gains 10 kg of fat to its usual weight before hibernation. During this period, the badger looks especially large.

Where does the badger live?

The badger lives throughout almost the entire territory of Europe, with the exception of only the north of Finland and the Scandinavian Peninsula, since it does not live on frozen soils. Also, the animal badger lives in Asia Minor and Western Asia, in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia.

The badger lives in mixed and taiga forests. Sometimes badgers live in mountain ranges; they are also found in semi-deserts and steppes. The badger lives near bodies of water and sticks to dry areas, avoiding flooded areas.

A badger's home is its hole. Badgers live in deep burrows, which they dig on the slopes of ravines, ravines and hills, and high banks of rivers or lakes. The badger lives by spending most of its time in a hole. The common badger is a permanent and conservative animal, so inhabited badger burrows are passed on from generation to generation.

In areas where there is an abundance of food, different families badgers can form an entire city of badgers by combining their burrows with each other. Each subsequent generation of badgers completes their burrows, breaking through new passages and expanding the family estate. This is how badger holes turn into underground city with dozens of exits.

Lonely badgers live in simple burrows; such a badger house has one entrance and a nesting chamber. But big family Badgers live in entire settlements. The city of badgers is a complex and multi-tiered underground structure with many entrances and ventilation holes, long tunnels, various passages and several nesting chambers. Nesting chambers are usually located at a depth of at least 5 meters, they are spacious and lined with dry grass mat.

Badgers arrange nesting chambers so that rain or groundwater didn't leak. The common badger is a practical animal and loves comfort. Therefore, comfortable and dry badger holes are often occupied by foxes and raccoon dogs. This is not the case simple life at the badger.

In addition, the badger is a rare clean animal that regularly cleans its burrow, throwing out garbage and periodically replacing old bedding. The animal badger even arranges a toilet outside the hole or allocates a special place in it. Also in the badger’s hole there are various rooms for the animal’s household needs.

The life of a badger is peaceful, so the animal badger has almost no enemies in nature. Wolves and lynxes can pose a threat to it. But main danger for the European badger it is represented by man. In some cases, human economic activity leads to improved living conditions for badgers. But on the other hand, the network of roads built on natural areas, increase the mortality rate of this animal and deprive it of its natural habitats. The greatest harm to badger populations comes from people who destroy badger burrows. A badger's home is very important for the animal.

The badger is listed in the International Red Book under the status of “least endangered”. After all, this animal is quite common and has stable populations. But the badger is hunted in order to obtain its healing fat, which is widely used in alternative medicine. In Europe, the badger was subjected to global extermination as a carrier of dangerous diseases.

The number of badgers has decreased significantly in those areas that are engaged in active economic activity. This has led to the loss of the badger’s habitat, and it is also being destroyed as a “pest” of crops. However, from common badger more benefit than harm, because it eats many pests agriculture.

What does a badger eat and how does it live?

The badger lives, being active mainly at night. But it can often be found during daylight hours, early morning or late afternoon. The badger animal is quite noisy, it snores loudly and makes various sounds and moves slowly. Badgers have poor eyesight. But the badger animal has a well-developed sense of smell and good hearing, which helps it navigate.

The common badger is not aggressive by nature. When meeting a predator or a person, the animal badger prefers to retreat to cover. But in anger, the European badger bites the offender and hits him with his nose, after which he runs away. However, the main male in the badger family very jealously guards the family plot from strangers.

The badger eats quite a varied diet and is almost omnivorous, but prefers animal food. The badger feeds on various mouse-like rodents, lizards, frogs, birds and their eggs. The badger also feeds on earthworms, insects and their larvae, and mollusks. The badger eats berries, mushrooms, nuts and grass.

When hunting, a badger travels considerable distances, examining fallen trees to find various insects and earthworms. During one hunt, the animal badger catches up to 70 frogs and several hundred insects. But a badger eats only 0.5 kg of food per day, which is quite enough for him. Only closer to autumn does the badger begin to gain fat and eat to survive hibernation.

The badger animal is the only representative of the Mustelidae family that hibernates in winter. For example, the stoat does not hibernate at all. In cold areas, badger hibernation begins in mid-autumn and lasts until spring. But in warm areas With mild winters, it does not sleep all year round.

The animal badger is an active transformer of the environment in the animal world. Badger burrows have an impact on the soil and the organisms that live in it. In addition, a badger's hole often serves other species of animals as housing, where they can breed offspring or simply escape from bad weather.

The European badger is a carrier of diseases dangerous to humans and domestic animals. It transmits rabies and bovine tuberculosis. To control these diseases, the number of animals is most often reduced by extermination and destruction of their homes. Nowadays in Europe animals are vaccinated under natural conditions to combat the spread of rabies.

Sometimes the animal badger creates storage facilities in fields, gardens or under buildings, which causes conflict between the animal and man. A significant part of the European badger's diet consists of various forestry and agricultural pests. For example, a badger feeds on the larvae of the cockchafer.

Badger skin has little value. Since wool is very hard, its hair is used in the manufacture of painting brushes. But the fat of badgers has remarkable healing properties, due to which the animal is furiously pursued by hunters.

Badgers are monogamous and often form pairs for many years or even for life. The mating season for the European badger begins at the end of winter and lasts until September. Educated couples in the fall, they prepare the nesting chamber in which the badger pups are to be born.

Pregnancy in a female has an extended period and its duration depends on the time at which mating occurred. Therefore, a female can carry badger cubs from 9 to 14 months. Most often, from 2 to 6 badger cubs are born.

In Europe, badger cubs are born from December to April, and in Russia - in March-April. Badger cubs are born blind, deaf and helpless. Only at the age of 1.5 months do badger cubs begin to see and hear. The mother feeds the badger cubs milk until almost 3 months.

But very soon the badger cubs will begin to leave the hole and feed on their own. By the age of 6 months, badger cubs almost reach the size of adults. In autumn the brood disintegrates. After which each badger begins an independent life.

Females become capable of reproduction at the age of two years, and males at the age of three years. In nature, a badger lives 10-12 years, and in captivity the life expectancy of a badger reaches 16 years.

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The badger is a predatory animal of the mustelid family, inhabiting almost the entire territory of Russia and the CIS countries, except northern territories, arid steppes and deserts. Very rarely, a badger is found in swampy areas. He lives in mixed forests, on the edges, and is not embarrassed by the proximity to humans.

It can reach from half a meter to a meter in length, its weight depends on the time of year, in summer it does not exceed 14-15 kg, and by winter it accumulates fat, because, like a bear, it goes into hibernation. IN winter months its weight doubles.

The life of a badger is closely connected with his hole - this is his home, shelter from bad weather and protection from enemies. Its strong paws with long claws are simply made for digging! The badger's hole is very huge, with many passages, holes, ventilation holes and ranges from 30 to 80 meters. If several generations of badgers have already lived in a hole, then the den can be several times larger. Depending on the age of the hole, it can have from two to 50 or more emergency exits. If there is a lot of food in the forest, then several families can live on one ravine at once. Badgers often connect their hole with a neighbor's, and then a whole badger settlement results. They “visit” each other, pass through other holes, and the host badgers take this calmly. Sometimes, when favorable conditions, the badger digs several holes for itself and alternately lives in one hole or another! In general, the badger digs holes very quickly. This, one might say, is his main hobby. He constantly digs new holes, studies

repairing old ones, trying to improve his bedroom - nesting chamber. So, during the spring-summer season he makes several tiers-floors. There are known cases that a badger's hole is the most lowest point in which it is located at a depth of more than one and a half meters, consists of four to five floors, and the nesting chamber is located in it at a depth of only about 40 cm. The temperature in the badger’s “bedroom” is always normal, it is not hot in the summer (temperature is about 17 0 C), and in winter it remains approximately at the same level, even a little higher. In the summer there is always a cool draft, and in the winter, before going to bed, he covers all the holes with grass, earth and leaves. Therefore, it is warm in the hole in winter, and it is not disturbed by uninvited guests. Many other forest inhabitants - foxes, raccoon dogs - often settle in the badger's hole or use it for shelter. To escape from predators, a ferret, a marten, a wild reed cat can hide in a badger’s hole...

The badger is a clean animal; twice a year, in spring and autumn, before hibernating, it changes the bedding in its nesting chamber. The bedding is a kind of bed for the badger, on which he spends the entire winter. He makes the bedding from grass and moss. He goes to the toilet in the same place - “to the restroom”, located at a distance of 15-20 meters from the hole.

The badger's entire life is spent near the hole. He does not go more than 600 meters away from her. This is a typical nocturnal forest dweller, going out to hunt in the dark. The badger does not like the full moon; complete darkness is his element. But in very remote places, far from settlements, where people rarely appear, can go out during the day! The badger feeds on chafer larvae, dung beetles, earthworms, frogs, and voles. Among plant foods, his delicacies include nuts, berries, and nutritious thick plant roots.

In spring and summer, badgers experience the rut. Pairs remain for life unless one of the partners dies. Pregnancy begins with a delay and lasts from 9 months to a year. Badgers are born in winter and early spring, small, blind, deaf and completely helpless. They feed only on mother's milk for up to three months. By autumn, badger cubs become independent and leave the parental hole and build their own home. But it almost always happens that some cubs get so used to their mother that they stay with her for another winter.

No matter how much badgers love their “husband/wife,” they always sleep in the same hole, but separately from each other - each in their own nesting chamber.

Life expectancy of a badger in their natural environment lasts approximately 14-16 years. During this time, they destroy a lot of pests of forests and fields, bringing great benefits to humans, and badger fat is known to help against many diseases.

It’s as if nature took special care to badger it was convenient to dig holes underground with long tunnels, giving it a squat body, a narrow head on a short thick neck and wide, muscular paws with long, blunt claws.

The badger belongs to the mustelidae family, although in appearance it does not look like its agile, agile relatives. This is a medium-sized animal: body length 60–80 cm, tail 15–20 cm. An adult badger weighs from 10 to 34 kg, but its weight varies greatly depending on the time of year.

The badger is a typical burrower, well adapted to digging: thanks to its massive, squat body, narrow cone-shaped head on a short thick neck, and short tail, it easily moves in earthen tunnels. And the wide, muscular paws with long, blunt claws are an excellent tool for earthworks.

Digging holes is a badger's calling. That’s why it settles in places that are ideally suited for this: on the slopes of ravines and river terraces, on the shores of lakes and other uneven terrain. Often he makes his home in artificial embankments.

You cannot call a badger selfish: many animals find shelter in its burrows, primarily foxes and raccoon dogs. Sometimes even wolves settle in old branched badger holes.

A badger hole rarely has only 1-2 exits; only young animals dig such simple dwellings. Usually this excellent digger lays out a whole system of underground labyrinths with numerous passages and exits. Such a hole has existed for decades, and many generations of animals diligently renovate it, clear it, add new exits, chambers and holes.

A lived-in badger’s dwelling can be compared not to a separate house, but to an entire city - it’s not for nothing that people call it a settlement.

Badger paw prints. At slow speeds, the footprint of the hind foot does not completely cover the print of the front foot.

Where badgers are not disturbed, the settlement grows widely - up to 1 hectare. The badger is a cautious animal: it has several holes in its hunting area, and it does not always return for the day to the one it left in the evening.

In summer, it does not stay in the same burrow for more than 2–3 days. However, the badger feels completely safe underground and does not camouflage the hole from the outside.

He spends almost all his daylight hours in the darkness of the dungeon, which, of course, does not improve his health. That's why, interrupting nap, the animal often goes out into the sun to sit or lie down near the hole.

Badger usually walks slowly, waddles. And when he hunts, he switches to small hasty steps - he jogs. Nothing will force this beast into a gallop, not even the dogs chasing it.