BADGER CONTROL

     This article is about BADGER control.
It will explain why they are a pest and what
needs to be done for controlling bad activity.
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   The following article will explain some basic
biology  of  the  Badger,  describe how to control
problem animals and then list the products
which are needed for the treatment. To see
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   Badgers are medium sized mammals which have broad
heads, short strong legs and a bushy tail. Their
front claws are long, designed for digging and they
have a black patch on each cheek. There is a white
line which runs over the top of their head which
extends from its nose. Badgers average around 20
pounds but can exceed weights of 30 pounds if local
food supplies allow for good growth. On average, males 
are larger than females.
   Badgers are found throughout much of the central 
and western states. Most every state west of the
Mississippi has badgers; the open country of the
plains states is where they prefer and seldom
do populations exist where there are heavy forests.
Badgers will readily live along coastal waterways
and exist at altitudes in excess of three miles.
   Badgers are members of the weasel family and have
the characteristic "musky" odor associated with
these animals. Either females or males will dig
burrows but the females den will always be longer
and deeper. This insures a protective environment
for growing young. Badgers breed during the summer
and fall but implantation of embryos are delayed;
gestation begins around February and young are 
born in early spring. Litters average 3-5 animals.
Offspring may begin to reproduce in their first
year of life if born early but most will not
until their second year. Badgers live an average
of 6-9 years but it is not uncommon for them
to live over 12 years in the wild. 
   Badgers are carnivores. They will readily feed on
ground nesting animals, their young, reptiles,
amphibians or vegetables if meat is not readily
available. Badgers have a keen sense of smell and
will tract down any small ground living animal.
Once the animals nesting burrows are found, the
hunting badger will dig and dig until it gets
it's dinner. Badgers will thrive on gophers, chipmunks,
ground squirrels, prairie dogs, chickens, turkey,
young lambs, domestic dogs and cats and just about
any small animal it can find. Badgers are mostly
nocturnal and will cover vast areas in search of
food. Though the average population of badgers may
only be 1-2 per square mile, terrain with enough
food can support 10-20 badgers without conflict.
Badgers do not hibernate. Though they may go
"dormant" for several weeks at a time, many of the
animals they like to eat are active during winter.
These animals provide a ready supply of food available
year round; gophers, rats and other animals which
are active even in snow provide nutrition during the
coldest of winters.
   Though referred to as the "farmers friend", badgers
present more problems than remedies for farmers. The
fact that they live on small animals has lead to a
great many "urban legends".  The most common is that a 
badger feeding on rodents on your property will keep
their numbers in check. This is not accurate. In fact,
there is no documentation to support this belief. It
has been noted, however, that badger activity is only
present where there are large populations of small
mammals. Generally, these populations have gotten too
large which has led to the badgers finding them in
the first place. In fact, small tolerable populations
of those same small rodents might never get the attention
of most opportunistic badgers. Since badgers need to
eat often, they tend to follow a trail which leads
them to populations which are high and dense. Badgers
won't waste their time where food is scarce or where
their hunting will deplete local numbers. Generally,
badgers like to live where local food supplies are high
enough to keep them well fed indefinitely. Such areas
tend to provide easier access to food, quicker results
and better breeding grounds. This is the same reason 
why most areas with a lot of badger activity will have
to address the food supply as well as the badger
activity. This may include controlling gophers, chipmunks,
ground squirrels or rats. We have in depth information
on how to control all these animals and you can access
these articles by going back to our on line article
archive and reading through the posted material. In
general, once you have badgers you have two choices.
First, you can deal only with the current badger which
is causing the damage. This approach is easy. Once
you have removed the badger you will simply have to
wait until another one comes around and follows the
same destructive path of behavior as the first one.
At such time you will have to then address this
second badger. Once you remove that animal, it will
be just a matter of time before another comes around
and so on. The second course of action you can follow
is to deal first with the active badger but to then
address the reason why it is there in the first place.
If the badger is attracted to large populations of
gophers on your property, implementing a gopher control
program will help prevent future badgers from coming
around. If the badger was attracted to your property 
because of chipmunks, reducing their numbers will allow
you to keep badgers from coming back. This pro active
approach which addresses the food supply of the badger
will prove to be more effective for obtaining long
term control.  Since badgers may be coming around for
animals which are being raised like chickens, turkeys
or other young farm animals, you may not be able to
do much in the way of taking away the lure which
attracts badgers. In general, the opportunistic
character of badgers attracts them to farms and
ranches where they can easily access chicken
coops and other farm animal living quarters. Once
inside they will be able to have their pick of 
dinner. Farmers which have large populations of
badger food may not even notice the first few 
missing animals they kill. However, there are
some telltale signs that will let you know you
have a badger and not some other nighttime feeder.
   Badgers will kill more than they can eat in a
day and then bury the leftovers. Most nocturnal
predators will get their meal and leave. Badgers
will get greedy and kill off more than they can 
handle. If you find this happening, it is more
likely a badger which is feeding on your livestock.
Because of this behavior, badgers which have access
to your livestock can cause a lot of damage rapidly.
   Conversely, badgers which are digging up gopher
mounds or chipmunk burrows may be mistaken for 
raccoon, fishers, skunk or some other animal. However,
badgers will be the most persistent and the most
damaging. Badgers are built to dig. Their strong fore
legs and sharp claws are able to get them as deep as
they need to go to reach their target. Once food is
found, rarely will the badger leave until it gets
dinner. This persistence leads to deep holes with a
lot of dirt being displaced. Gopher holes can be
a nuisance to farm animals like horses and cattle;
badger diggings can be even more dangerous. In the
yard, a badger can change your entire landscape in
one night! If you have a badger active in your yard
or feeding on some of your farm animals, you will 
need to trap it out. You have two types of traps
which are very effective.
   Live traps are one of the most common ways to
catch a badger. Our LT111230 is easy to set, large 
enough for the biggest badger and strong enough to keep
it caught. Badgers will return nightly to turf which
has provided a meal so as soon as you find some fresh
digging or a pen which has been dug into, place the
trap as close to the activity as you can. Use a portion
of VOODOO BADGER LURE applied to the trip pan with a drop or
two at the trap entrance. Since badgers rely on their
keen sense of smell, this lure is very effective
for getting them inside the trap and can be detected
from great distances - especially if there is a strong
wind blowing. Bird parts can be placed in the cage
as well for a visual aid but don't leave them in the
set too long and let them rot; only fresh will work.
For this reason it is usually not practical to use
actual bait other than the lure but if you do, be sure
to swap it out every evening with fresh stock.
   The more traditional trap to use for badgers are
leghold traps. These are available in two styles. The
BRIDGER design has been used since the beginning of
the furrier age and the COIL trap is the newer design
which has become just about as popular. Either trap will
work well for trapping a badger by the leg. Using
these traps for beaver, coyote and other animals
requires staking the trap to insure the animal can't
get away but when trapping badgers, you will need
to do something else. Because badgers are such strong
and determined diggers, staking won't work. Badgers
will readily dislodge any stake unless you are able to
secure the trap to a tree or some other immobile
object. Since trap sets for badgers are many times
in terrains which don't have trees, the use of an
anchor works well. Secure the trap to a large
log, a cinder block or other heavy inanimate object.
Make your set where they have been recently digging and
place some fresh chicken down the burrow. Badgers will
readily return to a burrow they just dug out - even if
they caught something - because they know many small
animals will quickly occupy vacated dens. The smell
of fresh chicken will get the badger to dig again
and a properly set leghold trap will catch him.
   Once trapped with either a live trap or a leghold
trap you will have to relocate or destroy the
animal. Since they are so strong, it is best if you
handle the animal with a CATCH POLE. These are 
devices which enable the handler to get control
of an animal when you want to move it around
safely. They fit around the animals neck and are
needed when dealing with most wild animals - 
particularly animals as strong as badgers!!!
Since badgers cover vast areas and have a 
good sense of direction be sure to relocate them
at least 20 miles away if you intend on releasing
trapped animals. Upon the successful trapping of
nuisance badgers you will have to choose to reduce
small animal populations to prevent future badgers
from coming around or continuously trap if food
attractant reduction is not an option.

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