1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogabam. Here. The badgers of popular 3 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: culture range quite a bit, from the dependable, no nonsense 4 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,119 Speaker 1: badger of Wind and the Willows to the friendly and 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: faithful mascot of Hogwarts House Hufflepuff, to other sports mascots, 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,639 Speaker 1: to dancing flash animations to the shall we say care 7 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: free honey badger of internet lore. As a group of animals, 8 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: badgers are equally varied. The name doesn't refer to one 9 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: specific animal. From an evolutionary standpoint, the badgers of the 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: world represent four separate evolutionary lineages within the weasel family 11 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: must Talladay, which also includes ferrets, otters, and wolverines, plus 12 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: a fit lineage represented by the two species of stink badgers, 13 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: which aren't even classified as weasels at all, but belong 14 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: to the skunk family. A fitted day, we spoke Emily Latch, 15 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: a wildlife geneticist in the Department of Biological Sciences at 16 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She said badgers are found 17 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: nearly worldwide, living in diverse habitats and with diverse diets. 18 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: One of their most unique features is their shared adaptations 19 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: for fossa reality. Living underground, they have reduced eyes and ears, 20 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: enlarged fore limbs and claws for digging, and bodies that 21 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: are tapered at both ends. The American badger is a 22 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: good example of these adaptations. American badgers are mostly nocturnal, 23 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: mid sized carnivores that feed primarily on rodents, but also 24 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: things that hang out on the ground, like snakes and 25 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: ground dwelling birds. While they're found primarily in grasslands and 26 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: other treeless areas, they can hang out in forests too. 27 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: Unlike raccoons, coyotes, and white tailed deer, they're not thrilled 28 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: by the presence of humans and the roads and houses 29 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: and Verizon stores that come with us everywhere we go, 30 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: but since there's not much of an option these days, 31 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: they grudgingly tolerate suburban neighborhoods as long as there's plenty 32 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:11,080 Speaker 1: of soil to dig around in. Latch said, American badgers 33 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: have few predators. Eagles and large carnivores such as wolves 34 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,239 Speaker 1: and bears might occasionally kill a small badger, but mustelids 35 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: in general have a reputation for punching above their weight. 36 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 1: As for badgers, some species such as the American badger 37 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: or the honey badger have a well deserved reputation for 38 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: being aggressive. By the way, the verb badger, meaning to 39 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: persistently pester, actually doesn't come from the behavior of these animals, 40 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: but rather the behavior of dogs trained to bother badgers 41 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: during a fairly cruel medieval sport called badger baiting. One 42 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: thing that unites badgers from all the world over, from 43 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: North America to Africa to Southeast Asia is their habit 44 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: of digging and living in dens called sets, which consists 45 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,959 Speaker 1: of an interconnected work of tunnels and chambers, and badgers 46 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,639 Speaker 1: lived together in groups, the size of the group depending 47 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: on the size of the set. One European badger set 48 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: in southern England is thought to cover a territory of 49 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: over a square mile that's two thousand square meters, with 50 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: up to a hundred entrances. It provides shelter for not 51 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: only dozens of badgers, but rabbits and foxes too. Badgers 52 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: sleep and give birth in specified chambers of the tunnel 53 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 1: system and keep these burrows immaculately clean. They don't bring 54 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: food in or eliminate waste inside. Sets can also house 55 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: many generations of badgers, some have been found to be 56 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: over a hundred years old. Badgers are such prolific and 57 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: proficient diggers that they sometimes excavate ancient human artifacts and remains, 58 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: albeit in a more haphazard manner than your standard archaeologist. 59 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: For instance, in a European badger uncovered a two thousand 60 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: year old burial urn near the side of Stonehenge which 61 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: contained cremated remains and archer's wrist guard, a copper chisel, 62 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: and a bronze saw. Similarly, in Alberta, Canada, in a 63 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: farmer found a human skull sticking out of an American 64 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: badger hole in his cow pasture. It turns out the 65 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: skull belonged to an indigenous girl from the early eighteen hundreds, 66 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,679 Speaker 1: a time before Europeans arrived in the area. Also found 67 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: in the badger's discard pile where many beads, brass, buttons, 68 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: and rings that would have been very valuable at the time, 69 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 1: suggesting that this was a personal stature who was probably 70 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: on route between places. One of the most heartwarming and 71 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: mystifying aspects of the American badger's social life is that 72 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: they often prefer to hunt alongside coyotes, even passing up 73 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: a hunting buddy of the same species to form a 74 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: short term hunting alliance with one of these canines. Scientists 75 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: believe that this unlikely partnership is convenient to both species 76 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: because they're hunting techniques are so compatible. The badger can 77 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,480 Speaker 1: dig into a rodent's den and flush it out, only 78 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: for the roadent to be chased and caught by the 79 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: speedy coyote. Conversely, a coyote can chase the prey down underground, 80 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: only to be cornered by the ruthless badger. Badger's employ 81 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: a mix of vocalizations snarling, hisses, squeals, and growls to 82 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 1: scare off attackers, but they also released a stinky must 83 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:29,280 Speaker 1: be smell if repellent sounds don't do the trick. Today's 84 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: episode was written by Jescelyn Shields and produced by Tyler Clang. 85 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: For more on this lots of other dependable topics, visit 86 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of 87 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio or more podcasts to my heart Radio 88 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:42,839 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 89 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.