The Home of the European Badger

A badger sett dug under the roots of an oak tree. All of the sandy soil that you can see has been dug out by the badgers. Each mound is a spoil heap, a pile of earth dug out from a sett entrance.

The European badger lives an underground home called a sett. A simple sett is made up of a single tunnel, with a sleeping chamber at the end. However, most setts have several entrance holes, and lots of tunnels which link up with each other. The tunnels also link up with sleeping and nursery chambers.

A really big sett can have from 50 to 100 or more entrance holes! A sett this big will not have been dug by just one badger. It will have been dug out by lots of badgers, over many years. There are some setts which are known to be over a hundred years old. Many generations of badgers have lived in these setts.

Badgers like to dig their setts where the ground is easy to dig. Sandy soil is a favourite, because it is easy to dig, and it stays drier than other soils. Chalk and limestone is also popular. Badgers do not like digging into clay, as this is wet and sticky - not very nice to live in! Even so, badgers will sometimes make setts in clay, if they cannot find anywhere else to dig.

Badgers also like to dig where there is a good slope, such as on the side of a hill, or in a bank. Water drains away better on a slope, and this means that the sett stays dry.

Badgers dig their setts in many different habitats. Woodlands and hedgerows are good places to find badger setts, but badgers will also dig their setts in open fields, moorland, sand dunes, old quarries, and even sea cliffs!

Badger setts are often used by other animals as well as badgers. Rabbits often live in badger setts. Foxes will also rear their young in setts. These animals live in small setts, or parts of larger setts, which are not being used by badgers at the time.