Badger Meles meles




Scientific Name: Meles meles (Mustelidae).

English Name: Badger (Marten family).

French Name: Blaireau.

5 Key Characters:
  • grey above, black below.
  • head striped black and white.
  • heavyset, with short legs.
  • short tail.
  • long snout.

Lookalikes: None.

Habitat: Woodland.

Behaviour: Nocturnal. Ambles or trots, bounds heavily if needs a burst of speed. Likes water, does not climb well. Generally lives socially. Very wary. Can be quite noisy and vocal.

Status: Abundant but not seen often except as roadkill. Hunting is allowed.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:


Active badger sett in a roadside bank near Chaumussay.
Active badger sett under mature trees and a causeway into a privately owned chateau near Bossay-sur-Claise. This is their path up and over the causeway.
Hole dug by badgers under the wall of a privately owned chateau near Bossay-sur-Claise. This point is roughly where the residential part of the chateau ends and the stables begin.
Badger activity under the wall of a privately owned chateau near Bossay-sur-Claise.
Badger hole inside the stables of a privately owned chateau near Bossay-sur-Claise. This hole is on an external wall.
Badger holes under an internal wall of the stables of a privately owned chateau near Bossay-sur-Claise.
Badger hole on the edge of a field near Braslou. The tunnel goes down about a metre then takes a sharp right turn. Some sizeable chunks of stone have been excavated.
A badger track in a muddy clay track through fields near Braslou. You can see the size and length of the claws, powerful digging tools.
A badger paw print on a sandy track near Braslou.
Badger sett near Chaumussay. There are at least three active badger setts within about a kilometre radius of this one.
Clear signs of recent digging, indicating an occupied sett.
A very active sett, with lots of digging going on.
The badgers' excavations are encroaching on the road here.
Badger prints on a sandy track.
Large entrances to a sett behind a veil of vegetation.
This badger sett is something of a multistorey residence.
An extensive sett with many entry / exit holes.
References and Further Reading:

Badger Highrise, a post on our daily blog Days on the Claise.
 

2 comments:

  1. I got one on the trail camera... plus some video. Elusive little b's!
    Roger is pretty certain one took their chicken "Norma no mates"!

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    1. I've seen one live one since we've lived in France! I saw Roger's post about the chookshed raid. Interesting.

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