The North
American badger (Taxidea taxus) only occurs in Canada in open country in Ontario,
Manitoba, Saskatchewan , Alberta and British Columbia. Badgers are now classed as endangered in British Colombia and
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Developing a management strategy for badgers is a two pronged effort; Project one is to find out as much as possible about badgers, what they require to survive and breed, what they do, what sounds they make, how they live, why they live where they choose to live…and very little of that is known at present. Project two is to find out the relationship between badgers and farmers, so that a way can be developed which will enable badgers and farmers to live amicably together with minimal losses to either the farmers or the badgers.
Despite the fact that they are classified over a significant part of their Canadian range as Endangered and over the rest of their range as a Sensitive Species, badgers are still killed very year in Canada. Badgers are killed most often because people have no understanding of the species and just want to get rid of them…but sometimes, a farmer will kill an adult badger and then he /she will be confronted by enchanting, tiny, confidential and orphaned badger cubs. These cubs have to be found a home, and the Cochrane Ecological Institute, CEI, thanks to the Shell Environmental Fund, Badger Daylighting, and our CEI volunteers has completed building them one. It is Part one of project ##03-0006 :Project One: Orphaned Badger cub nurseries and large (3/4 acre) badger enclosure.
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Part one of our project (Project One) has been to build a suitable facility to receive and successfully raise these orphaned badger cubs under conditions as closely approximating those of the wild that we can manage on the 160 acres of the CEI and in doing so, to teach people about the benefit that this much maligned and little known species has in our environment.
The badger facility comprises an indoor and outdoor nursery and a 3/4 acre enclosure, of natural vegetation.
The interior of the indoor nursery can be observed through windows from the CEI’s Wildlife Viewing Deck, enabling observers to make scientific observations of the badger cubs with out impacting the cub’s behaviour. It is also possible for visitors to the CEI to observe the badger cubs without the cubs being aware of observation. The indoor nursery contains moveable kennels, known as badger boxes, specifically built to house badger cubs, which consist of lidded three chambered boxes with badger sized entry holes at either end.
The outdoor nursery is built to have access to the adjacent outdoor enclosure, to have natural soil and vegetation and to hold badger boxes and is fully protected from predators, both avian and terrestrial. This outdoor nursery provides an undisturbed area for the badger boxes, while enabling the young badgers to explore a small slice of their future domain, practice digging, discover plants and earthworms etc. while still being fully protected from predation. Orphaned badgers, from our observations, appear to have no natural inbuilt fear of predation so they have to be protected until they have grown big enough to protect themselves.
The outdoor enclosure can be accessed from the outdoor nursery by badger cubs and their keepers through a gate. The 3/4 acre outdoor enclosure contains both trees and open country, the ground surface has been artificially varied in order to provide a greater choice in potential den sites. This variation has been achieved through a large rock pile, a shallow pond, and, also through digging an oval hollow and constructing an east/west ridge. The disturbed ground was re-seeded with native grasses and a small number of Richardson’s ground squirrels Citellus richardsoni introduced to the area.
Coyote canis latrans, and bison, Bison bison, utilize the area outside the badger enclosure although moose, Alces alces, elk,Cervus Canadensis, white tailed deer,Odocoileus virginianus and mule deer,Odocoileus heionus jump over the fence to graze within the enclosure. Other small carnivores, such as red fox, Vulpes fulva also utilize the outdoor enclosure. This enables observers to observe interaction between badgers and other native species
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The outdoor enclosure is overlooked in two sites, one the CEI Main building, from which CEI field workers can observe the badgers without the badgers being aware of observation, and the other a wildlife observation deck, which provides a platform which also serves as an educational facility. The perimeter fence of the enclosure has been sunk underground and cemented in place (badgers are superlative diggers.)
As outlined in our project proposal An Assessment of Experiences, attitudes and practices of landowners and ranchers in relation to the North American badger (Taxidea Taxus) In Alberta and the Construction of a Facility to Forward Badger Research and Protection.Project One is to find out as much as possible about badgers, what they require to survive and breed, what they do, what sounds they make, how they live, why they live where they choose to live
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These facilities, indoor nursery, outdoor nursery and outdoor enclosure, have enabled CEI personnel to make recordings of badger vocalizations, study badger behaviour, develop
(a)non intrusive survey methods through the adaptation of the DNA hair-traps originally developed for use in the CEI swift fox pogramme
(b) pelt pattern I.D for individual animals.
More data is needed and will be gained from the study of a greater sample size of badgers. This can now be undertaken, thanks to the Shell Environmental Fund ,due to the construction of the badger facilities at the CEI
This dual effort has involved field research and construction along with educating the public to realize badgers are a key beneficial species in the prairie ecosystem.
