Q: I saw an animal last night. Was it a badger?
A: There are several pictures and movies of badgers in our "when" gallery but, since the badger is primarily noctournal, you can't always get a good look. Your best bet is to come back in the morning. Does the area look like an artillary testing range? If there aren't foot-wide holes everywhere, it probably wasn't a badger. They dig for food, and aren't tidy about it.

They're most active at dawn and dusk, and you can check the population distribution maps to determine if they're in your area. Don't take the maps too seriously, though. While badgers are seldom found east of the Mississippi river, there are verified sightings as far east as Pennsylvania, west of the Allegheny mountains.

Q: I'm doing a school report, and I need some information I couldn't find here.
A: Either you didn't look over the site thoroughly enough, or you're just out of luck. Every scrap of information I could find, I put into the site. Feel free to e-mail us with specific questions and we'll do the best we can, but we're not doing your homework for you! ; )

Q: Can I steal your pictures?
A: You'll find our policy at the top of the "when" gallery. For pictures in the public domain and our original pictures, feel free to copy for any non-commercial use. DO NOT link to them directly, or to anywhere else on this site other than the main URL: www.badgers.org. To prevent this "leeching", we automatically change all file names periodically.

Q: I've got a badger. How do I get rid of him?
A: The first question is, should you try? If you've got a badger, then you've got badger food. Unless you keep sacks of Purina Badger-Chow buried in the yard, that means burrowing rodents, snakes or grubs. All of which you definitely don't want. That's what all of those holes are: each one probably represents a badger's meal. They are generally considered beneficial animals. Keep in mind: the badger considers rattlesnake a delicacy.

There are those that fear that horses might step into a hole and break its leg, although I've never gotten a direct report of this. There are a couple of things to consider here. First, the badger's probably eating prarie dogs, which leave hard-to-see deep holes. Badger holes are very large and easy to see. How dumb would a horse have to be to step in a 12 to 18 inch wide fresh hole? Every horse I've ever met was smarter than its rider when it came to such things. I know my horse was.

On the other hand, if you've got beloved (yet, particularly foolheardy) pets, or small children you've grown attached to, maybe it's best if the badger leaves.

Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. A lot easier. These fellows can claw through concrete and asphalt. Most live traps just tick 'em off. They have extremely loose-fitting fur and no neck to speak of, so a noosing wand is virtually useless. Keep the loose fur in mind before grabbing one by the "scruff": they can turn completey around on you no matter where you grab him. They can bite through any glove. Basically, the best advice is to avoid any direct confrontation.

So what do you do? The U.S. Forestry service says there is no approved poison effective against them. They're resistant or immune to rattlesnake venom, so most darts are out (and darting usually just injects tranquilizer under the fur).

You may be able to annoy them. Badgers don't like bright lights and noise, and some people have had success with lighting the area. Of course, bright lights and music all night long might chase you out first. The FBI doesn't seem to have much luck with this teqnique.

The only sure-fire way to get rid of a badger, is to remove his food source. Find out what he's eating. Get rid of it. The badger will move on (or, maybe start raiding your pantry). Keep in mind the irony here: you're problem is now figuring out how to get rid of the gophers so you can get rid of the badger...who was getting rid of your gophers!