American Badger

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American Badger

Conservation status

Least concern

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Mustelidae
Genus:	Taxidea
Species:	T. taxus

Binomial name

Taxidea taxus
(Schreber, 1777)

The American Badger, Taxidea taxus, is a North American badger, somewhat similar in appearance to the European Badger.

It is found in the western and central United States, northern Mexico and central Canada. This animal prefers dry open areas with deep soils that are easy to dig, such as prairie regions.

In Mexico, this animal is sometimes called "tlacoyote". The Spanish word for badger is "tejón", but in Mexico this word is also used to describe coatis. This can lead to confusion, for there are both coatis and badgers in Mexico.

[edit] Anatomy

The stocky body is flattened covered with shaggy grizzled fur, and the legs are short and powerful with long sharp claws on the front paws and shorter claws on the back paws. The fur on the back and flanks of the animal ranges from grayish to reddish. The ventrum is a buffy color. The triangular face of the badger is distinct. The throat and chin are whitish, and the face has black patches. A white dorsal stripe extends back over the head from the nose. In northern populations, this stripe ends near the shoulders. In southern populations, however, it continues over the back to the rump. Badgers measure 52 to 87 cm from head to tail, with the tail making up only 10 to 16 cm of this length and generally weigh between 4 and 12 kg. Males are significantly larger than females and animals from northern populations are larger than those from southern populations.

[edit] Further Information

American Badger at the Henry Doorly Zoo.

These animals prey on ground squirrels and mice and other small mammals, often digging to pursue prey into their dens. They also eat birds, snakes and insects. They are mainly active at night, but may be active during the day. They do not hibernate but may become less active in winter.

They are normally solitary animals for most of the year. Males may breed with more than one female. Mating occurs in the summer, but implantation is delayed and the young are born in an underground burrow during late winter.

They have few natural predators other than humans. The numbers of these animals has declined due to persecution by farmers and the extermination of many of their prey in agricultural areas.

The state animal of Wisconsin is the badger, so named for the lead miners who lived in holes in the ground during the lead rush of the 1840's. Because of this the University of Wisconsin-Madison's sports team name is the Badgers and their mascot is Bucky Badger.