Badger facts

 

Badgers live in their own homes, known as setts, which are burrows underground. These setts can be hundreds of years old, housing several generations of badgers. They have of a series of chambers and tunnels and several different entrances. Around 6 badgers normally live in a sett. 

 

Badgers like to keep their sett clean. They won’t bring food inside the sett and won’t use any part of it as a toilet – instead, they use specific areas along the boundary of their territory called latrines. They regularly change their bedding to prevent the build-up of fleas and lice. To create a nice cosy nest, they line their sleeping area with clean grass and leaves. 

 

What do badgers eat?

For about 80% of their daily diet the badger eats earthworms, they can eat several hundreds of juicy earthworms in a single night. As badgers are omnivores they will eat a wide range of food such as: meat, fruit, bulbs, even birds’ eggs, acorns, nuts and seeds.

 

Badgers have a super sense of smell, which is very useful in the dark, because they are nocturnal animals. They also have sharp claws they use for digging, very useful tools when you need to get to your food, which lives underground.