Badger – Meles meles.

Commoner in wooded districts than is usually realised, it is present throughout the British and Irish mainland’s, also on Anglesey and the Isle of Wight. Badger-Watching is am increasingly popular pastime, but illegal Badger-digging still occurs in some districts. Badgers are more or less omnivorous and very rarely do any real harm to the farmer. 80-95cm

There are badgers in most parts of the country, and some places have been named after them, such as Brockhall in Northamptonshire – broc being Old English for Badger. Some inhabit urban areas, notably on the south coast and in Essex, London, Bath and Bristol. Generally they are active at night and rarely seen. Badgers live in extensive burrow systems, or setts, dug out, with their broad, powerful forepaws. Setts are usually in woodland, sometimes in fields or rubbish dumps, and include sleeping chambers where there is regularly changed bedding. Each sett is occupied by a group of one or two families. The group forages within an established territory, defended against outsiders, which has well-defined paths between the sett, feeding grounds and latrines – dung pits dug singly or in groups.

Earthworms are the badger’s main food, supplemented by cereals, beetles, fruit in autumn, and some mammals, particularly young rabbits dug out from their burrows. Badgers will also dig out and eat the contents of wasp and bee nests. A few badgers probably survive for about 15 years. Unauthorised killing is illegal, but because badgers may be infecting cows with tuberculosis in certain areas, there has been official gassing.