"White dune landscape, White Sands National Monument, 2016." by U.S. National Park Service , public domain
White SandsThe American Badger |
Brochure about The American Badger in White Sands National Park (NP) in New Mexico. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
White Sands
White Sands National Monument
The American Badger
B
adgers in the desert? How strange! Well, at least that’s what most people think when they first learn that
badgers live right here at White Sands National Monument. Although most people associate them with forests,
badgers make their homes in the desert as well
The American badger (Taxidea
taxus) is found throughout
western and central U.S., and in
the southwest. They are primarily
associated with grasslands and
desert scrublands. In Mexico, where
this species is also found, it is called
tlalcoyote or tejón. The badger eats
a variety of burrowing animals,
but here at White Sands, it has a
more restricted diet that consists
mainly of southern plains woodrats,
kangaroo rats, and other small
rodents, lizards, carrion, as well as
young burrowing owls.
Badgers are mostly nocturnal,
but in remote places, like White
Sands NM, they can occasionally
be observed during the day.
This is especially true of females
with young, who tend to forage
during the day and spend the
nights with the young. Badgers
seldom venture above ground
unless the temperatures are
above freezing. Badgers in this
area do not hibernate, but go
into a state of torpor (a state of
lowered physiological activity
typically characterized by reduced
metabolism, heart rate, respiration,
and body temperature).
Because the soil in the monument
is very compact and hard due to the
high level of gypsum, badgers with
their strong muscular legs and long
front claws are able to dig burrows,
both in search of prey and deeper
burrows that are used as their dens.
Badger burrows that are abandoned
may then be occupied by kit foxes,
skunks, desert cottontails, and
black-tailed jackrabbits. Abandoned
badger burrows also provide readymade homes for burrowing owls.
Badgers are not common at the
monument, and thus the ones that
are here are even more important
because they provide homes for all
of these other desert animals.
Badgers are also solitary, and are
only found together during the
breeding season (late summer–early
fall) and mothers with their pups.
Female badgers have two or three
pups per litter. Female badgers
are unique in that they experience
delayed implantation. They delay
their pregnancy until the months of
American badger eating a snake
December through February. This
is done so that the young are born
during a more favorable time of
year between March and April. The
families usually break-up between
June and August with the juveniles
dispersing to new, unoccupied
areas. Female badgers do share their
mother’s territory.
Badgers are aggressive animals,
and have few natural enemies.
Dispersing juveniles in this area are
probably only attacked and eaten
by bobcats (which live at the outer
edges of the monument). The most
important threats to their survival
include loss of habitat, and shooting
and trapping. Badgers typically live
nine to ten years in the wild, and
may need as much as 2,000 acres of
suitable habitat to have enough food
and other resources to live and raise
a family.
Dr. M. Hildegard Reiser, Ph.D.,
—
Science Advisor, Chihuahuan Desert
Network
American Badger’s den
Originally written Spring/Summer 2015
Revised 04/03/2016