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The European badger

The black-and-white digger who comes out only at night

A European badger in grass, with its black and white striped face

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

The European badger is one of Britain's biggest wild mammals - about the size of a small dog, with thick grey-and-white fur and a striking black-and-white striped face. Badgers are nocturnal, which means they sleep all day and come out at dusk to dig, snuffle and forage in the dark.

Tell me more

Badgers live in huge underground homes called 'setts'. A sett is like an underground town. It can have many tunnels, several entrances, separate sleeping rooms, and even a 'toilet' chamber. Some setts are over 100 years old, passed down from one badger family to the next, expanded with every generation.

Badgers live in family groups called 'clans', usually 4 to 8 members. They are very clean animals. Each spring they drag out the old grass and leaves they had been sleeping on, and bring in fresh new bedding from the woods - a bit like changing the sheets.

Their absolute favourite food is the earthworm. A single badger might eat several hundred worms in one night. They also eat insects, slugs, fruit, nuts and small mammals. Their powerful front claws are perfect for digging - and they leave little snuffle-marks in the ground where they have been hunting.

Because they only come out at night, most people in Britain have never actually seen a badger - even though there are around 500,000 of them. The best chance is to sit quietly near a known sett at sunset, downwind, and wait. They are shy, but if you are still and silent, they will come out.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Badgers live underground and sleep during the day. What might be good about being awake at night?
  2. 02Why do you think the badger has such a bold black-and-white face, when many wild animals are well camouflaged?
  3. 03If you discovered a badger sett at the bottom of your garden, what rules would you make to keep them safe?
Try this

Classroom activity

Draw a cross-section of an imaginary badger sett. Label the entrance tunnels, the bedroom chambers, the toilet, the nursery (for cubs), and the food store. How many badgers will live in yours? Give them names.

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