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Badger Runs In and Out of Its Burrow in The Living Desert

3,009 views · Published 5 December 2012 · 2:57 · Indexed 26 September 2026

Channel: Melvin Wei · 2012 · Pets & Animals

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Badgers are short-limbed omnivores with cute appearances and cranky dispositions. They are known to drive nosy bears away from their dens by lashing out and hissing; the bears leave not because they would ever lose a fight with a badger, but because they do not think it is worth it to sustain scratches in doing so. Badgers can dig up concrete and asphalt with their powerful claws! This is in part because short limbs have mechanical lever advantage to exert more strength at the cost of movement speed, much in the way a human with short limbs can lift more weight but is slower to move or strike than a lankier person. Badgers have stout, powerfully-muscled bodies. Badgers' lower and upper jaws are physiologically tied together with muscles and tendons that pass through cavities through the skull, creating a powerful bite with a lower jaw that cannot dislocate.

There are 11 species of badger, 9 of which are in Europe/Asia and have long, anteater-like faces. This is an American badger. Badgers dig tunnels with their strong limbs and claws and live together in colonies. American male badgers grow up to 90 cm in length, whereas the females are smaller. During the fall, when food is plentiful, males can weigh up to 11.5 kg or more, but only 7 kg during lean times. Badgers eat a variety of small mammals, ground-nesting birds, insects, and plants. Here in Southern California I would guess that the California ground squirrel and lizards are a big part of their diet. The American badgers living in the dry lands here prefer open chaparral with only 50% ground cover or less, or riparian zones; they cannot live in dense, mature chaparral (most animals cannot traverse mature chaparral).

I once saw a nature documentary on badgers. A couple had their heads sticking out of their nest hole and were hissing and lunging at a cameraman who got close to them. Domesticated badgers like this one are cute and cuddly but can still be grouchy. 

Badgers are the fastest digging animals in the world! They are known to share dens with other animals. Here in California they pair up with coyotes!!! Talk about an unstoppable combination...

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