How do badgers survive

This has led to badger culls taking place in certain areas. Learn how to track elusive woodland animals with our poos and clues swatch book.

Trees and woods provide a stable habitat and food supply for many mammals. What will you spot? Ever adaptable, the fox sits top of the woodland food chain with a diet that takes in everything from birds and beetles to rabbits and rats.

Find out what foxes eat, how they breed and how to spot them. Sleepy, cute, truly iconic. Find out what they eat, where they live and how to spot them. The flash of a red squirrel leaping from branch to branch is an unforgettable, but increasingly rare sight in UK woods.

Find out all about it, from how it breeds to what it eats. Sleepy, charming, undeniably cute. Find out where hazel dormice live, what they eat and how they breed. Appearance and behaviour Where to find them How to spot them Threats. Quick facts. Common name: badger Scientific name: Meles meles Family: Mustelidae Habitat: broadleaved woodland, farmland, towns and gardens Diet: worms, invertebrates, small mammals, fruit Predators: adults have no predators; cubs sometimes taken by foxes and large birds of prey Origin: native.

What do badgers look like? What do badgers eat? Badgers: what do they eat? Find out more. How do badgers breed? Did you know? Where do badgers live? Signs and spotting tips Badgers are strictly nocturnal and extremely wary of humans.

During warm summer weather they may emerge from the sett a short while before sunset. Setts: One of the best ways to spot a badger is to locate a sett and quietly wait for the inhabitants to emerge, usually around dusk. Position yourself downwind of the sett if possible, as this will prevent the badgers from picking up your scent.

If you think hedgehogs are breeding in your garden or in a neighbouring garden, avoid attracting badgers and foxes if possible until the hedgehog young are well grown.

If you have badgers visiting your garden, they can make fascinating guests. Their presence produces a wide and varied response from gardeners; some consider them a nuisance as they may root up flower bulbs, eat fruit and vegetables, and dig up lawns. But if you enjoy seeing badgers in your garden, there's a range of suitable foods that you can put out. Since they eat such a wide diversity of foods, they will probably eat most of what you put out for them or for the birds, or hedgehogs, or the dog , but it's best to stick to foods that most closely match their natural diet.

Piling food in a heap on your patio does make life easier for badgers, but you may find it more interesting to scatter food across the lawn. If badgers have to sniff the food you'll have more time to observe their foraging and eating habits. Leave out plenty of fresh water at ground level for badgers even throughout the winter when other sources are frozen.

Feeding small and varied amounts of food on an irregular basis is best, especially in times of greatest need winter and spring or as an occasional treat. In terms of quantities, feed no more than the equivalent of a large handful of peanuts or dried food, plus the same amount of soft wet food such as grapes per visiting badger. Badger setts are often found in broadleaved woods, but they can be found wherever where there are lots of earthworms.

Badgers live in setts - underground burrows which they dig with their powerful, long claws. The main sett is the headquarters where the badgers live for most of the year and it's where they rear their young.

Badgers practice good housekeeping, to prevent a build-up of fleas and lice. They clean their sleeping chambers by dragging out old hay, grass, bracken, plastic bags and anything they've used as bedding by carrying it under their chin.

As well as the main sett, there are up to six outlying setts dotted throughout each badger territory. Most setts are in broadleaved woods, but they can be found just about anywhere where there are lots of earthworms.

They are really sociable and playful and live together in family groups, known as clans. Badgers can grow up to 20 to 34 inches 51 to 86 centimeters long from head to tail. The tail adds an additional 4 to 6 inches 10 to 15 cm to its length. Badgers weigh between 9 and 39 pounds 4 to 18 kilograms. Badgers prefer dry, open grasslands, though they are very adaptable.

Some also live in woods, quarries, hedgerows, sea cliffs and moorland. American badgers are typically found in the Great Plains region of North America. Honey badgers are found in southern Africa; hog badgers live primarily in Southeast Asia, India and Sumatra. Badgers are also found in large numbers in the United Kingdom.

Badgers have strong limbs and sharp claws that help them dig burrows and find food underground. They make their homes by digging tunnels and caves and use grass and leaves for bedding. Setts have a special chamber reserved as the bathroom because badgers are clean creatures, according to the Somerset Wildlife Trust. Many badger species are very social creatures and live in groups called a cete or clan. A clan shares territory and setts.