Life Cycle of a Badger

by Mell Lerum

Field Note #10

Angry American Badger next to a burrow with green grass and flowers. Photo by Moose Henderson

Anyone who knows me knows how much I like finding dead things. Despite the grotesque nature of decomposing creatures, I find the proximity to a once-living thing to be compelling. There are some animals I have never seen alive in the wild, and though this is disheartening, I am always glad for the opportunity to be close to something I could never have been near otherwise. Furthermore, my curiosity for such animals drives me to learn about them, to then teach about them to my students, and finally, to have a fuller appreciation for the niche in which they occupy.

In July, I found a freshly dead badger on the side of Love Lane.

I knew it was newly unalive because I’d driven this road just the night before, and in the morning, it lay, I presume, where it was struck by a vehicle. Though saddened, I did what no longer surprises any of my friends nor my husband; I bagged it for freezing with the intention to skin the badger when I had time. I’d tried my hands at skinning before but had never turned a hide into a tanned pelt. This badger’s purposeless death provided me with a chance to further explore the art and science of preservation.

It was clear how this animal had died, but what of its life? This badger, a female I quickly discovered, represented something I’ve never gandered; the life cycle of a badger. It occurred to me recently, as both a means to learn and honor her life, I might utilize this field note to better understand one of my neighborhood predators. In this particular area, not far from my house, a coworker has found the skeleton of a male in a meadow. The kids that live at the end of the road have claimed to have seen a badger in the neighboring farmland. This female may very well be a descendant or a relative of either one.

Her life would have started in a burrow underground, one that her mother either made herself or found and enlarged. Born sometime in the late winter or spring, she would have been one cub amongst a litter numbering between one and five. For the first month she wouldn’t have even been able to open her eyes. This underground life-style would have continued for the rest of her life.

Though other predators in North America may dig, only the American badger is considered a true fossorial carnivore, one that is specially adapted to burrowing. This female would have hunted the open grasslands and farms of Gallatin Valley as she dug out her prey of tunneling rodents, ground-nesting birds, and occasionally reptiles. Too, she would have had different burrows for different things; one for sleeping, another for food storage, and maybe eventually one to raise cubs in. Her huge claws were perfectly adapted for tunneling quickly in loose earth, and their size became clear when I began the skinning process. I was especially keen to keep the claws attached to the pelt to better show her fossorial adaptation. Interestingly, her front claws are much bigger than her hind claws. They seemed almost disproportionate in comparison to her body, a telling sign of how reliant her life was on digging.

I learned when I found her in July, she would have been in the heat of the badger mating season. Normally badgers are solitary, but during this time, she might have been running around with a partner...or a few. They wouldn’t have remained together long, nor would any male have helped in rearing young. But what’s remarkable is that she, as a female badger, was capable of delayed implantation, otherwise known as diapause. Come winter, if she were able to fatten up and her body was not in a state of stress, a hormone would have been released, allowing any dormant embryos to fully implant themselves and begin to grow. If conditions, however, had not been perfect, her body could have absorbed the embryos, focusing instead on her health and welfare, and allowing her a chance at motherhood later in life.

One of the biggest reasons I wanted to learn about the badger life cycle was not knowing where they go during winter. They neither migrate nor hibernate; rather, badgers enter a state of dormancy, called torpor, and will sleep in a burrow underground for days at a time. A badger’s body temperature will drop slightly during torpor, and energy stored in their fat will be utilized for the cold winter months, much like a bear. During this time, being able to burrow is especially important for a badger, in both seeking shelter from the elements and finding hibernating prey. In addition, their fur will become dense during winter to help with insulation, something I saw just the opposite of as I prepared the badger’s summer pelt.

This female badger did not have thick fur, indicative of the time of year she died. Too, I can not be certain of her age or if she had even lived through a winter yet. There was hardly anything I could tell about her as an individual just by her pelt. Even the vehicle that killed her gave no outward injuries. But as I worked on the skin, occasional healing scabs revealed themselves. There were a few across the top of her nose, perhaps from a confrontation with another animal, such as a ground squirrel, and another near her tail, evidence that she must have run from something and been clawed in the process. I even found a single flea; had she even scratched and noticed it?

There are other things I was curious to know, but to find the answers would have felt too invasive. What was her last meal before coming to the edge of the road that fateful night? Did she ever find a mate, and could she have been in a state of diapause? I can only imagine the answers to these questions. Nevertheless, I’m grateful to have learned more about this fascinating species through this badger, and I hope to be lucky enough to see a living one, happy, healthy, and burrowing to its heart’s content.

Resources:

https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=AMAJF04010

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4605486/

https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/americanbadger.htm#:~:text=The%20badger%20does%20not%2

0hibernate,and%20it%20even%20dives%20underwater.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/american-badger#:~:text=Their%2

0average%20life%2Dspan%20in,until%20about%20a%20month%20old.