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.

Etymology

The word ''badger'' originally applied to the European badger (''Meles meles''). Its derivation is uncertain. It possibly comes from the French word ''bêcheur'' (digger) The Oxford English Dictionary states it probably derives from ''badge'' + ''-ard'', referring to the white mark borne like a badge on its forehead. It is possibly related to the Romanian ''viezure'' ("badger"), a word of uncertain etymology, believed to be inherited from Dacian/Thracian and related to the Albanian ''vjedhullë'' ("badger", "thief") and ''vjeth'' ("to steal"), and the Slavic ''jazvrŭ'' ("hedgehog"; cf. Serbian ''jazavac'' "badger"). The less common name ''brock'' (Old English: ''brocc''), (Scots: ''brock'') is a Celtic loanword (cf. Gaelic ''broc'' and Welsh ''broch'', from Proto-Celtic ''*brokko'') meaning ''grey''. The Proto-Germanic term was ''*þahsu-'' (cf. German ''Dachs'', Dutch ''das'', Norwegian svin-''toks''; Early Modern English: ''dasse''), probably from the PIE root ''*tek'-'' "to construct," so that the badger would have been named after its digging of setts (tunnels).

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.

Classification

The following list shows where the various species with the common name of badger are placed in the Mustelidae classification. The list is polyphyletic and the species commonly called badgers do not, if the stink badgers are included, form a valid clade.

Family Mustelidae

* Subfamily Melinae

** Genus †Enhydritherium

** Giant Florida Sea Otter, ''Enhydritherium terraenovae''

**Genus †Satherium

***''Satherium piscinarium'' (Hagerman's Otter)

** Genus ''Melogale''

*** Burmese Ferret-badger, ''Melogale personata''

*** Javan Ferret-badger, ''Melogale orientalis''

*** Chinese Ferret-badger, ''Melogale moschata''

*** Bornean Ferret-badger, ''Melogale everetti''

** Genus ''Meles''

*** Japanese Badger, ''Meles anakuma''

*** Asian Badger, ''Meles leucurus''

*** European Badger, ''Meles meles''

* Subfamily Mellivorinae

** Honey Badger or Ratel, ''Mellivora capensis''

* Subfamily Taxideinae:

** †''Chamitataxus avitus''

** †''Pliotaxidea nevadensis''

** †''Pliotaxidea garberi''

** American Badger, ''Taxidea taxus''

* Subfamily Mustelinae

** ''Includes: weasels, martens, polecats and allies''

Family Mephitidae

* Genus ''Mydaus''

** Indonesian or Sunda Stink Badger (Teledu), ''Mydaus javanensis''

** Palawan Stink Badger, ''Mydaus marchei''

Distribution

Badgers are found in much of North America, Ireland, Great Britain and most of Europe as far as southern Scandinavia. They live as far east as Japan and China. The Javan ferret-badger lives in Indonesia , and the Bornean ferret-badger lives in Malaysia. The honey badger is found in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Desert, southern Levant, Turkmenistan, and India.

Behavior

The behavior of badgers differs by family, but all shelter underground, living in burrows called setts, which may be very extensive. Some are solitary, moving from home to home, while others are known to form clans. Clan size is variable from 2 to 15. Badgers can be fierce animals and will protect themselves and their young at all costs. Badgers are capable of fighting off much larger animals such as wolves and bears. Badgers can run or gallop at up to for short periods of time.

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.

Diet

The diet of the Eurasian badger consists largely of earthworms, insects, and grubs. They also eat small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds as well as roots and fruit. Indeed, in southern Spain, badgers mostly feed on rabbits. The honey badger of Africa consumes honey, porcupines and even venomous snakes (such as the puff adder). They will climb trees to gain access to honey from bees' nests. American Badgers are fossorial carnivores. Unlike many carnivores that stalk their prey in open country, badgers catch most of their food by digging. They can tunnel after ground-dwelling rodents with amazing speed.

Badgers have been known to become intoxicated with alcohol after eating rotting fruit.

Humans

Hunting badgers is common in many countries. Manipulating the badger population is prohibited in many European countries as badgers are listed in the Berne Convention, but they are not otherwise the subject of any international treaty or legislation.

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.

Commercial use

Today badgers are commercially raised for their hair, which is harvested to make shaving brushes. Virtually all commercial badger hair comes from mainland China, which supplies knots of hair in three grades to brush makers in both China and Europe. In rural Northern China, badgers multiply to the point of becoming a crop nuisance, and village cooperatives are licensed by the national government to hunt badgers and process their hair. The hair is also used for paint brushes, and was used as a trim on Native American garments. It has been used in some instances as doll hair.

Food

Although rarely eaten today in the United States or the United Kingdom, badger was once one of the main meat sources in the diets of Native Americans and white colonists. Badgers were also eaten in Britain during World War II and the 1950s.

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.

Popular culture

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.

Notes

External links

Badgerland - The Definitive On-Line Guide to Badgers in the UK

WildlifeOnline - Natural History of Badgers

Badger Facts

Badger in the Netherlands

Badgers

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

Coordinates	39°46′5.88″N86°9′29.52″N
Name	Stalking Cat
Birth name	Dennis Avner
Birth date	August 27, 1958
Birth place	Flint, Michigan
Nationality	American
Known for	extensive body modifications to look like a tiger
Home town	Tonopah, Nevada
Footnotes	}}

Dennis Avner (born in Flint, Michigan August 27, 1958) of Tonopah, Nevada, United States, is widely known as "Cat Man," though he prefers his Native American name, Stalking Cat. Avner has spent considerable resources to surgically modify his body to resemble that of a tiger. He holds the world record for the most body modifications.

Description of modifications

extensive tattooing, including facial tattooing

hairline modification

facial transdermal implants to allow the wearing of whiskers

facial subdermal implants to change the shape of the brow, forehead and the bridge of the nose (a planned future implant on the top of his head for mounting tiger-like ears)

filing and capping of his teeth to have a more feline appearance

wearing green contact lenses with slit irises

having his ears surgically pointed and the earlobes elongated

silicone injection in the lips, cheeks, chin and other parts of his face

bifurcated upper lip

Avner himself claims not to keep track of the money he has spent on body modification, although some sources do state a total. Avner, whose parents were of Huron and Lakota heritage, states that altering oneself to resemble one's own totem is an ancient Huron tradition. The former Navy sonar technician who currently works as a computer programmer took on the name Stalking Cat and began his modifications after a discussion with a Native chief who reportedly inspired him to 'follow the ways of the tiger'.

As a result of his unusual appearance, Stalking Cat has attained local celebrity status and frequently travels to attend interviews and photo sessions. He has appeared and been interviewed on such television and radio shows as ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'', ''Larry King Live'', VH1's ''Totally Obsessed'', Kerrang! Radio's ''The Night Before'', BBC Choice's ''Anna in Wonderland'' (Episode 6), and Animal Planet's ''Weird, True & Freaky'' (2008 episode "Humanimals").

Many of Stalking Cat's body modifications have been performed by Arizona based artist Steve Haworth.

The first artist to begin the extensive tattoo work on Dennis's face was Larry Hanks of San Diego in 1985. He also tattooed scales on him and at this time Stalking Cat was referred to as "Cat Fish" although not by choice.

Medical ethics concerns

Glenn McGee, director of the Center for Bioethics at Albany Medical College in New York, says of Avner, "Cosmetic surgery is a practice based on informed consent that needs to balance the risks with the benefits. It is possible to have a coherent view that is nonetheless detrimental to one's well-being. This is a patient who's being harmed by medicine in the interest of his tradition."

See also

The Lizardman

Katzen

The Enigma

Lucky Diamond Rich

Body modification

References

External links

Dennis Avner's LiveJournal

Cat Man - the human 'tiger' who enjoys climbing trees and eats raw meat every day - an article dated 2008-09-06 from The Daily Mail, which features a photograph of Stalking Cat

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:Body modification Category:Lakota people Category:Wyandot people

de:Stalking Cat es:Stalking Cat ja:ストーキング・キャット pt:Stalking Cat sv:Stalking Cat