Badger blog - my first sighting of wild badgers!

American badger seen in Waterton National Park on June 29, 2025.

 It was a welcome site, although I was not expecting it.  We were visiting the Buffalo paddock at Waterton National Park yesterday and my wife called out, “What are those?”  My eye caught two burly grayish and very low to the ground mammals scurrying to my left.  “Badgers.”, I said.  Two of them.  And they were making a B-line for their den.

Badgers have quite a wide range over North America, but their populations vary radically where there are only a few hundred known to be left in Ontario and they are doing slightly better in British Columbia.  In the prairies it is a different story in that they are doing well and not considered endangered.  The ones I photographed yesterday were in a protected area in western Alberta.

Badgers are considered fossorial carnivores, which is another way of saying they eat things that dig in the dirt.  This mostly includes rodents such as prairie dogs, ground squirrels, and voles, but they will also take insects, honeycomb, and may consume some plant matter.  They have also been known to eat rabbits.  They are beneficial animals to the farmer because they reduce undesirable species.

Badgers are actively hunted in some areas.  Alberta used to allow badger hunting for their furs but this practice has stopped.  In Ontario and BC, they have obtained protected status due to their low numbers.  Some states, such as Montana, have open season on them all year.  They also may be predated upon by large carnivores such as wolves, bobcats, lynx, cougar, bear, and golden eagles.

Badgers are not considered dangerous to humans.  If they are cornered or threatened they can turn and fight.  They are relatives of wolverines and racoons and have strong jaws with sharp teeth and have considerably sharp claws.  Badgers should be left alone to live out their lives as they are both beneficial and remarkable animals.  It was awesome seeing them.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen      www.ericspix.com

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