The badger, known by its scientific name Taxidea taxus, has been Wisconsin’s official state animal since 1957. It was chosen as the state animal, because in the 1800s, lead miners who were digging tunnels into Wisconsin hillsides reminded the people of badgers. This was because badgers make their homes by using a similar technique. Even though badgers are rarely seen by Wisconsinites, the animal lives primarily in the central and western parts of the state. In the recent decade, there have been more badger sightings in most of the counties with the exception of Milwaukee County. The lack of sightings in Milwaukee County is due to the county being more urban than the other Wisconsin counties. However, there are other counties which have an increasing number of the state badger population. The most populated counties are Dane, Iowa and Marquette counties since these counties have a badger population of 8,000 to 10,000. Overall, these three counties have contributed greatly to the badger population increase but unfortunately it is not enough to change the endangered status of the badger within Wisconsin.
The habitat of a badger consists of a den known as a sett. Badgers build their setts on hillsides, and some even use previous dens made by other animals. This is where they sleep during the day, raise their young, and go through periods of torpor; which is a temporary state of hibernation. Unfortunately, the urbanization of several Wisconsin towns has caused wooded areas best suited for the badgers' habitat to be eliminated. Due to the lack of habitat land available, the badger population has become endangered in recent years.
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Badgers are nocturnal mammals, so during the night they climb out of their setts, and hunt for prey. Badgers obtain their food by digging into the ground with their long front claws. They also have a great sense of smell which helps them to find their prey from great distances. A Badger’s diet consists mainly of meat since they are carnivores. They eat prey such as ground squirrels, pocket gophers, burrowing rodents, and cottontail rabbits. However, badgers will also eat lizards, birds, eggs, insects, and occasionally carrion.
There are many limiting factors for badgers since they are an endangered species in Wisconsin. Because of how they build their hillside homes they need dense, wooded areas to live in with sandy soil. Also badgers cannot live on farmed land due to the unnatural state of the soil, because it makes it harder for them to dig for their prey. However, since badgers hunt during the night, they have a wide variety of food sources during the majority of the year. When the winter months come, badgers have a harder time finding food due to the snow. But this does not affect the badger because it naturally eats less food in the winter. This is due to the badger spending most of its time inside its sett in a state of torpor. Torpor is a state of decreased physiological activity in which an animal reduces its body temperature and metabolism. The badger does this to conserve energy in the winter due to the lack of available food. The sett is an average of 31 degrees warmer than the temperature outside, which allows the badger to survive the cold Wisconsin winters.
Physical adaptations have helped Badgers survive in the changing Wisconsin climate for many centuries. Such adaptations are their flat bodies and their short, stocky legs. The flat bodies give badgers an advantage of squeezing themselves into tight spaces to live. Their short, stocky legs serve as powerful digging tools for building their sets and finding prey. Badgers also have thick, bushy fur which keeps them warm during the cold temperatures. However, badger fur is not of a high value to fur trappers, so few are trapped. This protects the badger population from dwindling due to poaching. Badgers also have keen vision, scent, and hearing; which help them to hunt for their prey such as ground squirrels, pocket gophers, burrowing rodents, and cottontail rabbits. Badgers have receptive nerve endings in their front claws which make them sensitive to touch and vibrations. This helps them to feel for prey like rodents as they dig. However, little else is known about how they obtain their food since badgers are solitary, nocturnal animals rarely seen by humans.
In order to survive, badgers have developed behavior adaptations to protect themselves from threats. Although badgers have few if any natural enemies, they do have to worry about the impact of humans. Since badgers are a nocturnal animal, they can avoid diurnal creatures when hunting at night for their prey. They also are very aggressive fighters; especially when it comes to protecting their setts. When threatened, a badger will emit a musky and smelly scent like a skunk if disturbed, and they will also snarl and growl to make themselves look more intimidating towards their threat. Sometimes badgers will form a mutually beneficial relationship with coyotes. Because coyotes are not very effective at digging rodents out of their burrows, they will chase the animals while they are above ground. Then the badgers, who are not fast runners, but well adapted to digging; will attack the rodents with their long fore claws. When hunting together, the two animals effectively leave little escape for prey in the area. This mutually beneficial relationship between the badger and the coyote keeps the rodent population down in the environment.
In conclusion, the badger is an interesting animal which lives in the state of Wisconsin. With better knowledge about how badgers live, build their setts, and catch prey, Wisconsinites can provide the badger population with a better future. Also by creating areas in parks for the badgers to live in, it can reduce the population of pests such as rodents, cottontail rabbits, and grown squirrels; which tend to attack the crops of nearby farms. Last, by creating a better environment for the badger, Wisconsin will contribute to the development of a diverse badger population that can be reintroduced to other nearby states which have declining badger populations.
Further Reading:
http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Wisconsin/Animal_badger.html
http://www.facts-about.org.uk/facts-about-badger.htm
http://www.ypte.org.uk/animal/badgers/46
http://www.crittercontrol.com/facts/animals/badger.html\
http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Taxidea_taxus/
http://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/2010/10/badger.htm
http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/taxitaxu.htm
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/critter/mammal/badger.htm
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Taxidea_taxus/
http://www.wisconsintrails.com/community/blogs/161553465.html
http://askville.amazon.com/badgers-live-Wisconsin/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=215368
http://www.mnn.com/local-reports/illinois/local-blog/american-badgers-stripe-faced-digging-machines
