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General appearance

The badger looks rather like a small bear, but with a more elongated body and shorter legs. The forelegs are well developed and are equipped with long, strong claws.

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Measurements

Adult males measure around 90 cm in length (including a tail of around 15 cm), and weigh anything from 9 kg to 17 kg (mean average about 11.5 kg). Females are usualy slightly shorter, and lighter: from 6.5 kg to 14 kg (mean average about 10 kg). The weights of both sexes vary over the year, being at their greatest at the beginning of winter, and at their lowest at the end of that season.

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Colouration

The Eurasian badger's striking black and white striped face is well known. The facial pattern does however vary across the badger's large geographic range. There is for example a considerable amount of variation in Japan. The Japanese badger's stripes start, as with other badgers, at the muzzle, and continue along each side of the face, around the eyes and up towards the ears. However, while the stripes of the western badgers then run up to and around the ears (which, being white, are conspicuous), the stripes of the Japanese badgers turn inwards towards the top of the head, missing the ears. In some individuals the stripes actually converge on the top of the head. In others meanwhile, the stripes are much reduced and in some there are only dark, panda-like patches around the eyes.

The badger's body appears grey, but a close look at the fur on its back and sides reveals that the hairs are not grey at all. Each hair is white with a black band near the tip, and it is this mixture of black and white which gives the badger its grey appearance. The badger's throat, neck, chest, belly and legs meanwhile are all covered with a coat of black fur, which is often sparse on the belly. The tail is whitish, sometimes darker, especially on the upperside.

Picture © Steve Jackson. See the Photo File.

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References

b001, b014, b015, w039.

Additional picture credits

The Eurasian badger photo used at the head of this Article is © Steve Jackson. 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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