Badgers
Badgers are notorious for having a bite that rivals their bark — despite their less-than-formidable size! Badgers have been known to fight animals as big as a lion! Related to weasels, badgers have a recognizable appearance and look somewhat similar to skunks. Badgers' digging habits can result in damage to your garden and lawn, which can sometimes be very expensive to remedy. Call Wildlife X Team® at (817) 431-3007 today to get rid of badgers!
What Problems do Badgers Cause?
Badgers are responsible mostly for landscape damage, including garden damage and lawn damage, which can become costly.
- Destroyed lawns
- Loss of structural integrity of homes and driveways
- Damage to crops
Badgers are excellent excavators, which causes most of the problems to humans. They will dig under fences, in your garden, and around your home. They create tunnel systems with a den. They dig up to one burrow every day, which can wreak havoc on your home and lawn.
Are Badgers Dangerous?
As with all wildlife animals, we do not recommend that you attempt to approach or handle a badger. Badgers are dangerous, but they generally don't go looking for conflict. However, because they are solitary creatures, they will hiss or get angry if you attempt to get too close to them. Badgers will usually run away from humans if they see one, but if they feel threatened, they are highly aggressive and will scratch or bite you.
What do Badgers Look Like?
Badgers in America are short animals with a small and pointed head. They are covered in brown fur with a fluffy tail and have little rounded ears. The easiest way to distinguish a badger is with the black or brown and white striped coloration on their face. Their paws look like small bear paws with long claws. Badgers weigh on average 20 pounds.
Where do Badgers Live?
There is only one species of badger that lives in the United States, and it is the American badger. Badgers live in western United States and across the Great Plains of North America. Badgers live in Taxas, Oklahoma, Missouri, up to Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. They may also be found in central western Canada and in some areas of Mexico. Badgers live in the tunnels they dig as their homes and insulate them with leaves and grass. American badgers live alone as they are solitary animals.
How do you Prevent Badgers?
- Remove food sources: Bird seed is a common snack for badgers. Keeping it tidy will help in your control efforts. Badgers also love to snack on the worms in your soil. By maintaining your lawn, you can reduce the number of worms in it.
- Install fencing: Badgers can dig, so if you install fencing to deter badgers, be sure it goes as far down into the soil as you can put it.
- Install floodlights: Badgers are nocturnal, so a great badger prevention is to light the area of concern.
Do Badgers Hibernate?
Badgers do not fully hibernate in the winter, but their activity level does decrease greatly. Badgers go into a state called "torpor", which is a period of about 29 hours of sleep that allows them to slow their metabolism, conserve energy, and protect themselves through the colder days.
How to Get Rid of Badgers
The most likely spot you will find badgers around your home is in your garden. Badgers don't usually cause an overwhelming amount of damage, but they are pesky to have hanging around. Signs of badgers in the garden include dug up spots in the beds, eaten foods or bulbs, and broken fences. If you're thinkging about how to get badgers out of your garden, there are a few options:
- Reinforce the fencing: badgers are excellent diggers, so be sure the fence goes down into the soil.
- Use repellants: Hilli peppers, flood lights, and citronella oil are all ways to repell badgers from your garden in a natural way
- Remove food sources: Badgers love to eat grubs. Keeping your lawn maintained will reduce the likelihood they can scavage for grubs. Keep other food away like chicken feed and bird seed.
Badger Damage to Lawns
Badgers may damage your lawn by stepping on plants or digging up the grass looking for bugs to eat. If badgers are damaging your lawn, they can be discouraged from the area by installing fences and gates.
What Do Badgers Eat?
Badgers are in the Mustelidae family, which means they are carnivorous mammals. Other Mustelidae include weasels and otters. Badgers mainly like to eat bugs and grubs. They will also eat seeds, berries, eggs, rodents, and lizards. Grubs and worms make up about 80% of a badger's diet, but they aren't afraid to use their claws to dig up other treats!
Are Badgers Dangerous?
These furry creatures with bear-like paws may have you wondering, are badgers dangerous? Badgers do not often attack people, but they do bite as a form of self-defense. Badgers are carnivors and have large teeth because of it. Their long canine teeth are used to eat rodents, squirrels, and other small animals, so it's important to be mindful of them around your family and pets.
Badger Mating Season
February is the top month for badger reproduction, although they will mate at any time of the year. The average gestation of a badger is 6-7 weeks. The average badger litter is 2 or 3 cubs. The babies will spend the first 2 months underground, then come out around April or early May.
Where Do Badgers Nest?
Badgers usually like dry grasslands, but some also live in the woods. Because they have strong claws, they will dig burrows and live in the tunnels they dig. A badger's home is calle a sett--like raccoons, badgers set aside a spot in their home as a bathroom, called a latrine. They leave all their droppings in one area. Badgers like to live close to each other in clans.
Badgers can be a nuisance in your garden and a safety threat to your family. To protect yourself from badgers, contact Wildlife X Team®. Call (817) 431-3007 today to get rid of badgers!
