Badgers are omnivores in the weasel family and there are nine different species, including those that live in Europe, Asia, and America. They are nocturnal animals and go out at night to hunt their food.

Physical Characteristics

Badgers are short and fat and have short legs, small ears, long heads and a short tail. Their faces are black and white and their bodies are grey with white stripes. They get to around 35 inches long and weight an average of around 20 to 24 pounds. The ones in Eurasia, however, can get twice that size.

Habitat and Location

Badgers live in underground tunnels called setts that may even be hundreds of years old. They live in groups with rooms for sleeping, latrines, breeding and for taking care of the young.  Badgers live in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the UK and in Asia.

Diet

Most badgers eat worms, insects, grubs, small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and sometimes fruits. Some kinds also eat snakes or honey. They dig up great amounts of dirt at times with their sharp claws to get to their foods and can do this very quickly. They are particularly partial to peanuts and peanut butter sandwiches spread with a layer of honey on top.

Breeding Facts

Badgers are able to mate any month, but mostly do it in February or later in the year. They can have their first litter of cubs by the time they are a year old. The female’s body can take in the sperm and have a delayed implantation and the body will not start the growth of the fetuses until later on when the time is goo and food is plentiful.

Cubs are kept underground until about five weeks old when they open their eyes. After three months of age they are fed by the mother through regurgitated insects or worms and are finding their own foods a couples months later.