American Badger

NPS Photo

One of the most reclusive animals in the park, the American badger (Taxidea taxus) is a primarily nocturnal, burrowing predator found in grassy regions containing loamy soils that allow them to easily dig for prey and create burrows. The abundance of prairie dog towns and clay soil found in the Badlands provide a perfect environment for this species to thrive.

American badgers are medium-sized mammals with stocky bodies, short legs, and a tapered head. They have a distinctive black-and-white striped face and their torso’s coarse fur is thatched with black, brown, and white hairs, giving their coat a unique blended appearance. They’re equipped with strong, muscular forelimbs, long, sharp claws, and a streamlined body designed for digging.

Badgers are primarily solitary animals adapted to life underground. They build burrows used for shelter, thermal refuge, resting, and breeding. Badgers typically have many burrows in their home range and their structure can vary based on their use. During the summer, they frequently dig new burrows and alternate which one they use daily, but come fall they will begin using burrows for multiple days. During the winter, they typically select a single burrow to shelter from the cold and have been documented partially plugging entrances with loose soil to retain warmth. Similarly, when giving birth and rearing young in the spring, a mother badger will primarily raise her young in one burrow. Natal dens are structurally more complex, containing additional tunnels, chambers, and latrines, reflecting the needs of a family group. Abandoned badger holes are utilized as shelter by many other species, including snakes, rabbits, burrowing owls, insects, and tiger salamanders.

Badgers are physically equipped and specialized to prey on burrowing rodents, such as prairie dogs. They will smell and use other senses to detect recent activity at burrow sites and dig up their prey. They’ve been observed filling holes dug by their prey to block escape routes from burrow networks. While badgers are digging up burrows, coyotes can sometimes be observed waiting nearby to catch rodents fleeing their dens and catching an easy meal. While small rodents comprise most of a badger’s diet, they have also been documented consuming insects, birds, eggs, and various plants.

If you’re hoping to see one of these creatures during your visit to the park, your best chance is to look around large prairie dog towns during sunrise. Observations have been reported at Old East Entrance station and Lindbo Flats, just north of Boicourt Overlook.