The Family Life of the European Badger

Two members of a badger clan outside their sett.

Although some European badgers live alone, many live together in pairs or groups. A group of badgers living together is called a clan. A clan is usually made up of several adults and their cubs. A large clan may have a dozen or more adults, plus cubs.

Members of a clan can recognise each other by smell. The badger has a special opening (called a gland) under its tail, which produces a smelly liquid called musk. To a badger, with its powerful sense of smell, every badger's musk smells slightly different. Members of a clan often mark each other with this musk; when they do this we say that musking or setting scent. By "swapping smells" like this, each badger ends up with a smell that is special to his or her clan.

Badgers don't just use their musk to mark each other. They also stop from time to time on their travels to set scent on the ground. This helps the badgers to find their way around using their sense of smell.

Each badger clan has its own area, called a territory or home range. The territory contains one or more setts, and places where the badgers can find food. The badgers have their own pathways, linking their setts and feeding areas.

If a badger from one clan wanders into the territory of another clan, there may be trouble! If the badger is discovered, a fight may break out. Badgers have powerful jaws, and can cause nasty injuries when they fight. A badger which gets into a fight with another badger may well end up with a wound on its rump, just above the tail.

Fights can also take place between members of the same clan. This usually happens when there are too many badgers in the clan, and not enough food to go round. Fights break out, and the younger animals may then leave the clan to find somewhere else to live.

Cubs

Female badgers give birth in or around February. There are usually two or three cubs in a litter. However, it is not unusual for a female to have just one cub. Occasionally, litters of four or even five cubs are born.

New-born cubs are just 15 - 16 centimetres long. This includes a tail of three to four centimetres. They may weigh as little as 75 grammes, or as much as 132 grammes. They have a light covering of silvery grey fur. This fur is a little darker on the legs. Sometimes there are very faint stripes on the face. All cubs have stripes on their faces within a few days of being born.

The cubs are blind at first. Their eyes do not open until they are five weeks old. Even then, they cannot see properly for a few more weeks. As they live in a dark, underground chamber, there is not much for them to see anyway!

When they are around 6 to 7 weeks old, the cubs start exploring the tunnels of their sett. At 8 weeks old, they may come up to the sett entrances. However, they do not usually start exploring outside the sett until they are nine to ten weeks old. Even then, they like to stay close to their mother, and they do not go very far from the sett entrances. This will usually be in late April or early May.

By now, the cubs have grown. They weigh around 3 kilogrammes, and look like smaller versions of adult badgers. Their muzzles are shorter though, and like most young mammals, they are very cute to look at!

Mother badgers suckle their young for about 12 weeks or so. After this, weaning starts - the mothers suckle the cubs less and less. The hungry cubs then have to start finding their own food.

To begin with, the cubs follow their mother when she goes searching for food (foraging). They soon learn what's good to eat, and how find food for themselves. By the time they are 15 weeks old, the cubs are quite happy to go foraging alone.

Badger cubs are very playful. They often play-fight and chase each other to and fro. They also play a game like 'King of the Castle'. One cub gets on top of a mound or fallen tree, and the cub or cubs try to push it off the top and take its place.

By the autumn, badger cubs are nearly as big as adult badgers. They play much less now, and spend more time eating. They need to build up their body fat so that they will survive their first winter, when there isn't so much food around. If they live through the winter, they have a good chance of growing into fully adult badgers, and having cubs of their own.