American badger

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     Badgers are relatively large members of the weasel family. They are equipped with a belly gland that emits a musky odour when the animal is excited. Large males may weigh up to 11.4 kg. 
     Badgers are not very agile and run close to the ground with a trotting movement when pursued. Their normal gait is a leisurely waddle. These animals live in burrows which may be as long as 9 m and up to 3 m deep. Grass-lined sleeping chambers lie at the end of these burrows. In their search for food, most of which is comprised of burrowing rodents, badgers tear up large areas of earth with powerful digging claws on their forefeet. 
     A powerful fighter, the badger has few non-human predators. Once common on the Canadian prairies, its numbers are now greatly reduced. It is also found in the mountain valleys of southeastern British Columbia and occasionally in the flat, open farmlands of southwestern Ontario. 
 

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