Badger

snafu · October 02, 2014, 07:57:47 AM

I believe what I witnessed awhile back. Was the dispersal/scattering of a young male badger. From it's home territory. The large badger (closet to me) was submissive. The smaller of the two (farthest away from me) was the aggressor.

Below is a series of pics as this event unfolded.

snafu · October 02, 2014, 08:04:34 AM

I suspect the smaller badger was an alpha female. She chased the large badger more than 1/2 mile. Down the gravel road. She would stop, then turn back around & head back. To where they had come from. The cub would sit down face back her way & make a whining/chattering noise. Then he would follow her again. This carried on for around 1/2 an hr. Finally she had enough of this. Then she ran him down biting his rump. As she ran him down into the road ditch near me.
Note her jaws are open when she is bearing down on him. Not good. Momma not happy? better run

snafu · October 02, 2014, 08:07:01 AM

She's gaining, run badger...run.

snafu · October 02, 2014, 08:09:12 AM

Cub paused to look back & see where she was. Bad idea, he's about to get his butt kicked.

snafu · October 02, 2014, 08:11:48 AM

She's on him. Too late

snafu · October 02, 2014, 08:13:34 AM

She ran him down into the grassy ditch right near me & kicked his butt. He never followed her again.

msmith · October 02, 2014, 08:59:03 AM

Now there's some cool pics!

coyote101 · October 02, 2014, 09:21:10 AM

That is a great series of shots.

Pat

Dale · October 02, 2014, 10:35:19 AM

most excellent... would like to have a nice badger skin for a wall hanging... what state did this take place in?...

JohnP · October 02, 2014, 10:56:59 AM

Thanks for posting them, sure are nice. Note the claws and teeth on them critters. I found them hard to skin and they sure do stink.

Okanagan · October 02, 2014, 01:45:42 PM

Yes, great series of pics.

Ditto to John: hard to skin. Their hide is so attached as I recall (years ago) that we had to cut every bit and it would not pull off like most animals will. An odd feature was how they would turn inside their skin when fighting our hounds. The dog would grab a big bite/hold and the badger would kind of slide around inside his skin while the dog bite held firm on his outer hide. Then the badger would clamp down with a bone crushing bite on foot, leg or whatever part of the dog he could get hold of.

In the sandy volcanic ash soil of Eastern WA State a badger can dive into the ground almost like water, digging a hole from the surface and disappearing within seconds. He could dig faster than I could with a shovel, as I learned.

HaMeR · October 02, 2014, 02:21:51 PM

Wow that is a cool scenario!! Glad you got pics to share!! Thanks!!

MI VHNTR · October 02, 2014, 07:59:52 PM

Excellent pictures and something most people will never see. Thanks for the pictures and the story.

FinsnFur · October 02, 2014, 08:52:13 PM

Awesome pics Snafu

snafu · October 03, 2014, 07:07:37 AM

Thanks. I've never seen this before. It was quite interesting & I was fortunate to witness this event.

Some yrs back I watched an old pr of coyotes scatter their pups, late December. Seen that same pr do that twice. As I just happened to cross paths with them during 2 different Winters. Both times the pr dispersed their pups. During the 3rd wk of December. Of which I (believe) was caused from the old adult female coming into heat. I use to have pics of those events. But lost them due to a PC virus.

Okanagan · October 03, 2014, 09:38:42 AM

Yep, you are an excellent photographer of animals in ways that show behavior, and an unusually inquisitive observer. Details in the pics and sequence are outstanding.

nailbender · October 03, 2014, 01:33:45 PM

Cool pics Snafu! Those badgers are really something, born with a bad attitude that only gets worse!

nastygunz · October 03, 2014, 08:25:59 PM

Thems some salty looking critters!

riverboss · October 04, 2014, 02:04:50 AM

Very cool! I ran over on out west years ago on a dirt road and stoped to take a look!! Bad idea it hadnt even hurt it but it sure as hell was mad. It took me 10 min to get off the roof of my blazer and back inside.

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Dave · October 04, 2014, 07:18:05 AM

Quote from: Okanagan on October 03, 2014, 09:38:42 AM
Yep, you are an excellent photographer of animals in ways that show behavior, and an unusually inquisitive observer. Details in the pics and sequence are outstanding.

Couldn't agree more. I've come back to look at this post at least half a dozen times. Can't believe the size of the young male's claws in the second to last pic. Looks like a devil.