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American Badger (Taxidea taxus)

American Badger (Taxidea taxus)

American Badger (Taxidea taxus)


Class: Mammalia
Family: Mustelidae
Common Name: American Badger
Genus: Taxidea
Species Name: taxus

About The American Badger

"Badgers look like short, shaggy, medium-sized dogs. They are powerful diggers. One, taken to a football game as a mascot, escaped and dug its way under the field. They dig after and feed on ground squirrels and pocket gophers, and also eat toads, frogs, birds, snakes, insects and insect grubs, wasps, bees, and worms. They sleep through most of the winter in a den, spending about 29 hours at a time in a state of torpor, rousing briefly, and then sleeping again. In torpor, which is not true hibernation, the Badger's heartbeat slows to about half the normal rate and its temperature drops. Humans are the Badgers' worst enemy, trapping and poisoning them, but they are now protected in some states and provinces."

Links:
Mammal Species of the World
Click here for The American Society of Mammalogists species account

Rights Holder: Smithsonian Institution

Member Lifelists

Illinois
North America
United States
World

Sites Where Observed

Location
Date
Notes
6/6/1992
Seen next to preserve while driving in daylight.

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