Brilliant Badgers
Why Badgers Are Brilliant: The Secret Life of the UK’s Iconic Nocturnal Mammal
The European badger (Meles meles) is one of the UK’s most charismatic and resilient mammals. With their bold black-and-white markings, powerful digging skills, and tight-knit social bonds, badgers are truly remarkable creatures. As essential ecosystem engineers, they shape their environment through burrowing and foraging, contributing to biodiversity in ways many people don’t realise. Despite their secretive nature, these nocturnal creatures lead fascinating lives that make them one of Britain’s most extraordinary wildlife species.
The Badger and The Moon, 2024, Ann Pease
Badgers’ Underground Kingdom: Where They Live and Why It Matters
Badgers in the UK are master builders, creating huge and elaborate underground burrow systems called setts. These setts, often passed down through generations, provide warmth, safety, and a strong sense of community. Found in woodlands, hedgerows, and farmland, badgers carefully select well-drained soil for their homes, often digging on sheltered slopes for extra protection. Some of these setts have been in continuous use for centuries - isn’t that amazing?!
What’s even more impressive? They keep a clean house. Badgers are really meticulous housekeepers and regularly bring in fresh bedding, clear out waste, and even use designated latrine areas to keep their setts hygienic — they’re not just great diggers but truly a clean mean foraging machine.
Badgers After Dark: Nighttime Adventures and Feeding Habits
Are Badgers nocturnal? Absolutely! This means you might not see them at all unless you’re prone to staying up to the wee hours of the morning - their world truly comes alive at night. Emerging at dusk (sometimes before in the Summer time), they embark on foraging missions that showcase massive knowledge of their local environment, their adaptability and intelligence.
Daytime Retreat: Resting in the Sett
During daylight hours, badgers stay safely tucked away in their setts. Cubs, generally born in February, remain underground for their first few weeks before stepping outside to explore under the watchful eye of their mother.
Evening Rituals: Grooming and Territory Marking
Before heading out for the night, badgers engage in quite frankly epic grooming and scratching sessions that strengthen social bonds. They also scent-mark their surroundings with gland secretions — an invisible messaging system that helps maintain order and reduce conflicts between neighbouring clans.
Foraging and Navigating the Landscape
What do Badgers eat? Badgers are resourceful omnivores, with a diet primarily consisting of earthworms, which can make up to 80% of their food intake. They also eat insects, small mammals, fungi, roots, and fruit. If they live near houses they are also known to Viti gardens for yummy bird seed, refuge, food scraps and in the case of a family that visited me - peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Thanks to their keen sense of smell and impressive memory, they can track down the best feeding spots and return night after night. Don’t let their stout build fool you—badgers are surprisingly fast, capable of reaching speeds of 30 km/h (19mp/h) when needed which just boggles my mind!
The Badger and The Moon 2, 2024, Ann Pease
Seasonal Superstars: How Badgers Adapt Throughout the Year
Badgers adjust their routines with the changing seasons, ensuring they thrive year-round.
Spring (March – May): The Season of New Beginnings
Spring is a busy time for badgers. Cubs emerge from the sett and begin their first explorations of the outside world. Meanwhile, adult badgers engage in mating, though due to embryonic diapause, the fertilised embryos won’t develop until conditions are just right for survival. Again - amazing right?
Summer (June – August): Learning and Growing
With food at its most plentiful, summer is prime time for foraging. Cubs start to sharpen their survival skills, learning how to dig, hunt, and navigate the landscape alongside older members of their clan. However - prolonged periods of drought and dry weather can seriously affect the ease and availability of various foods - notably earthworms, so those long lazy days of summer aren’t all good news.
Autumn (September – November): Preparing for the Cold
As the days shorten, badgers begin fattening up for winter, consuming high-calorie foods like nuts and berries. Scent-marking also increases as they reinforce their territories before the leaner months arrive.
Winter (December – February): Energy Conservation Mode
Do badgers hibernate? Well no, unlike some mammals, badgers don’t hibernate—but they do slow down (clever badgers). During the coldest months, or when it is very wet they stay inside their setts - sometimes for days at a time, relying on stored fat reserves to get them through. If temperatures are mild, they may venture out for brief foraging trips.
Badgers’ Social Side: Why They’re the Ultimate Team Players
Are badgers social animals? Hell yes! Badgers aren’t solitary creatures—they live in clans, working together to maintain their setts, care for their young, and defend their territory. Their social structure is built on cooperation, making them one of the more communal mammals in Britain. They have many setts within each territory, which may be occupied some or all of the time, and they are known to cross territorial boundaries and visit other clans.
They also have a surprisingly rich vocabulary, using everything from growls and purrs to high-pitched calls to communicate with one another. Scent-marking plays a crucial role in their interactions, helping them recognize family members and establish dominance.
The Magic of Badgers: Why They Deserve Our Respect
Why are badgers important? Badgers are far more than just woodland wanderers. They are engineers of the landscape, dedicated family members, and resilient survivors. Their ability to adapt to seasonal changes, their intricate social bonds, and their role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem make them truly incredible creatures.
So next time you find yourself walking through the countryside at dusk, take a moment to appreciate the hidden world of badgers. They may be elusive, but their impact on Britain’s natural landscape is undeniable—and that’s what makes them so awesome.
I have been lucky enough to witness these amazing animals firsthand, watching badgers emerging from their setts, observing badger cubs at play, and even welcoming them into my garden. Seeing their interactions and intelligence up close has deepened my passion for them, inspiring me to capture their beauty through badger paintings. If you love badgers as much as I do, you can search for "badger" in the search box on my website www.britishwildlifeart to find badger original art, open and limited edition prints, and greetings cards.
The Badger and The Snow, 2024, Ann Pease
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If you’re looking to delve a little deeper into the hidden world of this incredible animal (recommended, because - Badgers!) here are some of my top Badger book recommendations. I'm not affiliated by any of the below, they're just great Badger books:
The European Badger: A Comprehensive Study by John McGarrity
This book provides an in-depth look into the behavior, ecology, and conservation of European badgers, making it a valuable resource for both enthusiasts and researchers.
Badger by Daniel Heath Justice
Authored by Daniel Heath Justice, this book provides a global cultural history of badgers, exploring their significance in various cultures and their representation in folklore and media.
Badgerlands by Patrick Barkham
Patrick Barkham's work delves into the complex relationship between badgers and humans in Britain, offering a timely and insightful study.
Badger: Book 114 (Collins New Naturalist Library)By Prof Timothy J. Roper
At around £40 this is a pricey book - but it’s a beauty. If you’re looking for the best book on badger behaviour, this is your go to. My favourite.
By exploring these resources, I hope you gain an all round insight into the fascinating world of UK badgers. Happy badger-watching and thanks so much for reading!