Mammals with short legs, thick bodies and definitive black
and white stripes on their snouts, badgers are carnivorous creatures belonging
to the weasel family. There are eight different species of badger with the
European badger being the most well known and depicted. Badgers have a varied
diet consisting of fruit, insects, small reptiles and amphibians and small
birds.
Badgers (sometimes called "brocks") live underground in
nests referred to as setts. These earth burrowing creatures live in clans of up
to 15 badgers or can choose to live alone. Male badgers are referred to as
boars, females as sows and infant badgers are called cubs. Small but strong,
badgers can run at speeds of up to 19 miles per hour.
Badgers have extremely strong jaws due to the fusing of the
lower jaw into the base of the skull. When threatened, badgers will go to any
extreme to defend their family and home. A number of laws exist that prohibit
the hunting and harvesting of badgers. Legislation has passed in several countries
giving the badger protected status.