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General appearance

The American badger is very similar in its general form to the European badger Meles meles, however the American species appears broader in the body and closer to the ground than its European counterpart. Its legs are a little shorter than those of Meles, but they are just as powerful and Taxidea is an accomplished digger.

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Measurements

There is great variation in the size of the American badger. Most members of this species are about the same size as their European relatives, but the subspecies Taxidea taxus berlandieri, which occupies the southern part of the American badger's range, is rather smaller. Thus the head-and-body length of the species ranges from 420mm to 720mm; the tail measures 100 - 150mm.

Weights too vary greatly, not just geographically, but also seasonally. Except in those parts of its range where the badger lives in warm conditions all year round, the animal puts on a great deal of body fat over the summer to see it through the winter, and weights are at their greatest at the onset of the cold season (as is the case with Meles in Europe). Recorded weights for adult badgers range from 4 to 12 kg.

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Colouration

The general body colour varies from greyish to various shades of brown; I have seen pictures of pale brown animals, yellowish-brown ones, reddish-brown specimens, and chocolate-brown ones too. The lower limbs and feet are a darker colour. Facially, the American badger broadly follows the same pattern as Meles, having dark eye-stripes with a white band in between and white cheeks. However, the central white band is much narrower in the American badger, and it continues down to the shoulders, and down to the rump in the case of the southern subspecies Taxidea taxus berlandieri. Also, there is a dark patch on each cheek. In some animals this extends upwards and meets the eyestripe just in front of the ear.

Picture supplied by Alex Streitch and used with her permission. See the Photo File.

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References

b001, b003, b004

Additional picture credits

The American badger photo used at the head of this Article is a public domain image provided by the US Fish & Wildlife Service; photographer Gary Stolz. Credits for the photos used in the right-hand margin of this page for site navigation can be found on the Credits page.

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