Bundles of Badgers: It’s Badger Cub Season!
- Badger Trust Staff Team
- Jun 15, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 5, 2022
A review of badger cub behavioural ecology as June sees more badger cubs emerging from their natal sett.
June is an exciting time of year for nature lovers up and down the country as natural resources abound, bringing birds, insects, wildflowers, and amongst them, Britain's last remaining large carnivore: the badger. Just as the good weather emerges, so do this year’s badger cubs, who at 4 months of age, start to venture above ground and explore further from their natal sett.
Badger cubs playing at the sett entrance © Billy Heaney
At this age, badger cubs weigh a little over 3kg, roughly the same weight as a small pumpkin! This, combined with their rotund anatomy and poor eyesight, make badger cubs rather comical as they tend to shuffle around and bounce about whilst exploring and playing with each other.
Badger cub life above ground
For these cubs, exploration outside the sett not only provides additional play opportunities, but life above ground allows them to start foraging and feeding on invertebrate food for the first time. Although badgers are part of the Carnivora order, badgers are generalist feeders with a wide-ranging seasonal diet, including fruits and insects. They are even very fond of peanuts! The badger’s primary food source, however, is earthworms. Earthworm-studded scat is one of the key indicators of badger presence, as badgers will toilet in the same area known as ‘latrines’, which are often found a little way away from their setts as markers of their territory.
Olfactory communication is really important for badgers. Badgers will carefully select their latrine sites and revisit each one to refresh their scent marks. As smell is a primary mode of communication for badgers, many an inquisitive badger cub has been caught on camera nosing around to find themselves snout deep in all sorts of new and exciting information. One nature enthusiast was even lucky enough to catch on their trail camera a young badger sniffing a baby lamb who had been born at the entrance to the badger’s sett. It was quite the surprise for the badger when the lamb moved!
What can affect badger cub development?
Unlike badgers elsewhere in Europe, British badgers are highly social animals. In mainland Europe, badgers often live alone or in pairs, whereas badgers in lowland England are typically group living with clan sizes ranging between 2 and 29 individuals. Badger cub development depends on the availability of foods and resources, the number of clan members and the size of the territory. Badger cubs born into more densely populated areas will take longer to develop, and so badgers in urban environments will typically be smaller than those in rural areas.
How the badger cull impacts cubs and their clan
Whilst the functional significance of group living is somewhat unknown, it is clear that badger social dynamics are negatively impacted by the government-sanctioned badger cull. Badgers have been found to range further in cull areas than areas without culling, despite dispersal resulting in lower rates of reproduction.
This is just one of the reasons why Badger Trust has been diligently campaigning against the badger cull since it began in England. Not only is there no scientific basis to the cull, but targeting 4-month-old cubs is unethical and is leading to localised badger extinctions.
If you have been lucky enough to catch this year’s cheeky cubs on camera, Badger Trust would love to see them. You can share your camera trail footage on social media with the hashtag #LoveBadgers and the @BadgerTrust tag!
Our Mission
Our mission is to promote and enhance the welfare, conservation and protection of badgers, their setts and their habitats.
Our Vision
Our vision is a world where badgers are respected as part of our rich wildlife heritage, safe from persecution
How you can get involved in badger protection
Badger Trust is a small charity that is 100% funded by voluntary donations from local badger groups, supporters, and members of the public. We can't do any of our work without financial and campaign support from people like you. Getting involved with your local group and signing up for a monthly donation plan with the Badger Trust are two of the best ways you can help preserve this wonderful species for generations to come.
