What Do Badgers Eat? | Exploring The Diverse Diet of Badgers

If you want to know about the diet of the badgers, then you should not stick to any particular diet as badgers live in various kinds of habitats and similarly their food also varies from one region to another. In this article, we are going to discuss in detail what do badgers eat and how they get this food.

Badgers are omnivores, so they can eat a variety of foods like meat, fruits, and vegetables. When it comes to meat, badgers can eat insects, rodents, squirrels, gophers, voles, mice, fish, bees, honeycombs, earthworms, beetles, snails, birds, etc. when it comes to fruits, they can eat seeds, roots, apples, eggs, etc.

Moreover, they can also eat all kinds of vegetables like corn and legumes when they have nothing available for food. Interestingly, badgers are also capable of eating hedgehogs. They are among the few animals who can eat these animals. It is mainly because of the strong claws which can break their spiky shells. The Diet of the badgers plays a great role in their long-term immunity, health, and survival.

How do badgers hunt?

Badger’s body has been designed in such a way that they can easily find and overpower their predators. In this regard, they have very strong, stout, tough bodies as well as strong and sharp claws to easily hunt down their predators. With sharp and strong claws, they can dig easily and find rodents and insects inside the ground.

When it comes to rodents, they can find rats, rabbits, and mice underground. When it comes to insects they can hunt down grubs, earthworms, and slugs. These claws are also helpful in making dens.

The hunting capability of the badgers is the main reason for their long-term survival in the wilderness. They can hunt any time of the day or night. But they are nocturnal and prefer to come out at night. It also depends upon the surrounding environment of the badgers.

Do badgers hunt with coyotes?

Badgers are solitary animals and like to live and hunt alone. When it comes to coyotes, they have a very unique relationship. No specific reason has been found for this hunting pair. But they go for hunting and while hunting they do the part in which they are best. For instance, badgers have a great sense of hearing and hissing.

They can easily find out their prey but badgers could not run very fast due to their very short legs. At this point, coyotes’ help is needed because they could run very fast and hunt down their prey. However, if the prey goes to burrows or dens, then badgers go ahead and play their part because they are experts in digging and going underground.

It is also because of this coordination that they rarely attack each other. It has been estimated that hunting with coordination is greatly helpful for both animals as they can hunt in great numbers in very less time.

Do badgers eat snakes?

Yes, badgers can eat snakes. It has been observed that badgers are immune to snake venom. That’s why they can also attack and eat them easily. The poison of the snakes doesn’t affect them.

Do badgers eat cats?

Many people want to know that do badgers attack house cats and eat them. It might be possible but badgers normally like to attack small mammals. They may attack kittens if they find an opportunity. Similarly, badgers also avoid attacking mountain lions as well as bobcats as they know that they might not be survived this fight. Wild animals like badgers are very wise in choosing prey.

Do badgers eat chicken?

Yes, badgers can easily attack and overpower the chicken. Chicken also doesn’t put the great fight against badgers. Thus, we can easily say that badgers can eat chickens.

How much does a badger eat?

Badgers need to have a lot energy for their survival. For this purpose, they need to eat a lot of food. In this regard, they properly follow their eating schedule and it is mostly seen that they eat a lot whenever they find an opportunity. They also store food in some specific months.

In the late summer, they prepare themselves for the winter and eat a lot of food and putting a lot of fat on themselves. They also do it to increase their immunity as well as survival for long term. They also collect some food to survive in winter.

On some odd days, they don’t consume a lot of food and go into the phase of fasting. After that when they go for hunting they like to eat a lot of food. Badgers live a very hectic life and spend most of their life in eating and collecting food for their survival. While hunting or going for food collection, they also try their best to keep themselves safe from predators.

They don’t go for a hunt in the places where they feel it is very much dangerous to go there. In these cases, they use their natural instincts and hearing senses to get to know about the level of danger. They show a great amount of patience while visiting these kinds of places.

As far as the eating of food is concerned, they don’t eat some specific food. They can rely on a variety of foods. Moreover, there is also a difference in their eating habits when they live in the wild and when they live in the wilderness. In wild, they do a lot of labor, that’s why they have to eat a lot as compared to their eating routine in captivity.

What is a badger’s favorite food?

Being an omnivore, they like to eat meat, fruits, and vegetables. However, they prefer to eat meat. In meat, they like to eat rodents, earthworms, insects, etc. If we enlist the favorite foods of badgers. Here we have.

• Rodents
• Earthworms
• Insects.
• Frogs
• Seeds
• Berries
• Roots
• Lizards

How to feed badgers

Normally, badgers are quite capable of hunting their own food. But sometimes they need food to feed. For instance, in winter they don’t like to go out and hunt for food. There are also very less chances that they could find their prey in winter because most of these animals do hibernate in the winter. Thus, they like to eat food from any source in the winter. In this regard, you can arrange the following items like grapes, apples, berries, plums, carrots, unsalted and peanuts for their food.

Now comes the time for their feeding. You can keep these things in your garden when you think they could come in search of food. If it doesn’t work, then you can also scatter the food in the garden. In this way, they can sniff quite easily. In terms of quantity, you can provide the handful of food which you provide for your dogs and cats.

They also need water for survival. You can keep the water in the bowl outside. You can also vary the temperature of the water according to the atmosphere. You should not provide them food regularly. In this way, they may completely rely on you rather than searching for their own food.

How to feed pet badgers?

Pet badgers don’t go out for foraging. You need to take care of their food as they entirely depend upon you. They also need to take a lot of fresh water along with their feed. Normally, you can give them seeds, nuts, fruits, meat, etc. you need to provide them with a variety of feeds for their good health.

They might eat a lot of food and become obese because they don’t have to do any labor. This is not good for their bodies. You must only provide them food which is their basic requirement. You can also provide them some areas for doing some playful activities as it is also good for their health.

How to feed wild badgers?

You need to be extra careful while feeding wild badgers as they could be deadly due to their rash attitude and sharp claws. The best way to feed them is by piling food items at a distance and wait to see them while eating. They love to eat their favorite foods first and also like to scatter food while eating. They will eat until they become overwhelmed. Thus, it is best to provide them food that is enough for them. You can also give them dry fruits like raisins and peanuts.

Do badgers eat hedgehogs?

Hedgehogs are found in the UK. Badgers are the natural predators of hedgehogs. Hedgehogs are normally protected mammals. They could only be killed by the strong and sharp claws of badgers. It is also being advised that don’t allow hedgehogs to roam freely in your garden because it might be the reason for badgers’ to visit your house. However, if hedgehogs are fully grown, then you don’t need to worry about the attack of badgers.

What do honey badgers eat?

Honey badgers are omnivores. They like to forage daily even if they are not hungry. They waste this food because they like to hunt due to their vicious and aggressive nature. They also like to steal the food of other animals. Mainly, they eat small mammals but they can rely on anything in their time of need.

If small mammals are not easily available they can also eat insects, small crocodiles, and reptiles. They can also compete with even large animals like wild cats, foxes, antelope, and spring hares. They love to eat fruits like Tsamma Melon for moisturizing themselves in the desert-type environment.

Do honey badgers eat honey?

Honey badgers are named for their extraordinary love for the honey in the beehives. Primarily, they focus on the protein-rich bee larvae in the bee hives. They have very tough skin which can easily withstand bee stings. They could even show great resistance against the venom of a snake. It has also been noted that if bees are in large numbers, they could also resist honey badgers from coming near them.

Honey badgers have become a big problem for beekeepers in South Africa. Beekeepers have been shooting, trapping, and poisoning them to keep their beehives safe from honey badgers. That’s why they are also considered endangered species in South Africa. To deal with this, they have also launched an initiative to produce badger-friendly honey.

Beekeepers are using some methods like higher-up beehives, ash around the base of the hive, strong lights in the night, and barbed wires around the hive to keep the honey badgers away. These methods are more friendly than their previously used dangerous methods which are extremely harmful to the population of honey badgers.

How do honey badgers hunt?

For hunting, honey badgers use their strong smell-sensing ability to find out where their prey exists and also use their strong claws for tearing them apart. They also climb very efficiently when they have to catch birds. Normally, they hunt alone at night time.

They exhibit diurnal properties in desert areas. They go for a hunt during the day and go as far as 20 km from their homes. But female honey badgers only go as far as 10 km from their home. They like to live in very big homes which are up to 193 square miles.

Frequently asked questions – FAQs

Conclusion

Badgers are omnivore species. They like to eat a variety of foods. They also have some more liking for some special foods. They can hunt their food without having any difficulty. They prefer to eat small mammals but they can also compete with larger animals in case of emergency. Generally, they don’t tend to store food but they collect food when they know that the winter is coming or hard days are ahead.