Friday Creature Feature: Badger

The badger, also known as the American badger (Taxidea taxus) are a member of the weasel family. They have tan and grey bodies, and a distinctive black and white striped face. In North America, badgers live in open grasslands, deserts, and shrublands of the west. However, their range has been expanding east.

Did you know badgers are built to burrow? They have long flat bodies, powerful forelimbs, and long claws for digging. Badgers use their burrow-built bodies to hunt other animals that live underground. Their diet includes gophers, ground squirrels, prairie dogs, and other small mammals. They also eat ground nesting birds and insects.

The chances of seeing a badger in person are rare, as they are nocturnal. In the Sky Island region, little information on badgers because of this. Sky Island Alliance only has a handful of badger images!




Follow these links to learn more about the badger:

Animal Diversity Web

Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection

IUCN Red List