Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies (see links in species list below): Melinae (badgers of Europe and Asia), Mellivorinae (the Ratel or honey badger), and Taxideinae (the American badger). The Asiatic stink badgers of the genus Mydaus were formerly included in the Melinae and Mustelidae, but recent genetic evidence indicates that these are actually members of the skunk family, placing them in the taxonomic family Mephitidae.
Badgers include the species in the genera Meles, Arctonyx, Taxidea and Mellivora species. Their lower jaw is articulated to the upper by means of a transverse condyle firmly locked into a long cavity of the cranium, so that dislocation of the jaw is all but impossible. This enables the badger to maintain its hold with the utmost tenacity, but limits its jaw movement to hinging open and shut, or sliding from side to side without the twisting movement possible for the jaws of most mammals.
A male badger is a boar, a female is a sow and a young badger is a cub. A collective name suggested for a group of badgers is a cete, but badger colonies are more often called clans. Badger dens are called setts.
In North America, coyotes sometimes eat badgers and vice versa, but the majority of their interactions seem to be mutual or neutral. American badgers and coyotes have been seen hunting together in a cooperative fashion.
Badgers have been known to become intoxicated with alcohol after eating rotting fruit.
The blood sport of badger-baiting was outlawed in the United Kingdom by the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 as well as the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 which makes it a serious offence to kill, injure or take a badger, or to damage or interfere with a sett unless a licence is obtained from a statutory authority. An exemption that allowed fox hunters to loosely block setts to prevent chased foxes escaping into them was brought to an end with the passage of the Hunting Act 2004.
Many badgers in Europe were gassed during the 1960s and 1970s to control rabies. Until the 1980s, gassing was also practised in the UK to control the spread of bovine TB.
The dachshund dog breed has a history with badgers; "dachs" is the German word for badger, and dachshunds were originally bred to be badger hounds.
In Russia, the consumption of badger meat is still widespread. Shish kebabs made from badger, along with dog meat and pork, are cited as a major source of trichinellosis outbreaks in the Altai region of Russia. Consumption of badger meat also occurs in other European countries such as Croatia, where it is used in a variation of the traditional dish of goulash. In contrast to Russia, there are no reports of trichinellosis related to the consumption of badger meat. This is credited to adequate preparation of the meat and good thermal processing of it.
In France, badger meat was used in the preparation of several dishes, such as Blarieur au sang and it was a relatively common ingredient in countryside cuisine. Badger meat was eaten in some parts of Spain until recently as well.
Badger remains a source of food in China, and the meat is freely available in market places. Other Asian countries also have traditions of consuming badger meat. In Japan, it is mentioned in folktales where it is regarded as a food for the humble.
Badger characters are featured in author Brian Jacques' Redwall series, most often falling under the title of Badger Lord or Badger Mother, and the 19th century poem "The Badger" by John Clare describes a badger hunt and badger-baiting. The character Frances in Russell Hoban's children's books is a badger. A badger god is featured in The Immortals by Tamora Pierce and "The Badger" is a comic book hero created by Mike Baron.
Many other stories featuring badgers as characters include Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mr. Tod (Tommy Brock), the Rupert Bear adventures by Mary Tourtel, Prince Caspian (Trufflehunter) by C. S. Lewis, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, T. H. White's The Once and Future King and The Book of Merlyn, Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl, Colin Dann's The Animals of Farthing Wood, Richard Adams's Watership Down and Erin Hunter's Warriors. In the Harry Potter books, the official mascot of the Hogwarts house of Hufflepuff is the badger, featuring this animal in the house's coat of arms as well as in the entire school's. The Hufflepuff common room has little underground tunnels leading to the dormitories, all of which have perfectly round doors, like barrel tops (much like a badger sett). In The Incident at Hawks Hill by Allan W. Eckert a badger is one of the main characters.
Badgers are also featured in films and animations: a flash video of "The Badger Song" shows a group doing calisthenics; in Pokémon, Typhlosion and Linoone are based on badgers. Walt Disney's 1973 film Robin Hood, depicts the character of Friar Tuck as a badger.
In Japanese folklore, the badger is a wild creature that sometimes appears as a mischievous being. In Europe, badgers were traditionally used to predict the length of winter. The badger is both the state animal of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the mascot of the University of Wisconsin's athletic teams. The badger is also the official mascot of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
In 2007 suggestions that British forces released man-eating badgers near Basra, Iraq, to kill terrorists were refuted.
ar:غرير an:Teixudo ast:Melandru cs:Jezevec ca:Toixó da:Grævlinger de:Dachse el:Ασβός es:Tejón fa:گورکن fi:Mäyrä fr:Melinae gv:Brock ko:오소리아과 hr:Jazavci lv:Āpši hu:Borzformák mk:Јазовец nl:Dassen ja:アナグマ亜科 pl:Borsuk pt:Texugo ru:Барсучьи sv:Grävlingar chr:ᎤᎫᎾ ur:بجو zh:獾亚科
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