Wildlife Around Las Vegas, Badger (Taxidea taxus)

American Badger (Taxidea taxus)
Mammals Around Las Vegas, Wildlife Around Las Vegas

	Order Carnivora: Carnivores; Family Mustelidae, Weasels Badgers (Taxidea taxus) are medium-sized (size of a small dog) predator-scavengers. They are heavy bodied with short legs and a short tail. The face is black-and-white patterned with a white stripe from the top of the nose over the forehead and onto the back of the head, white cheeks, and black spots below the eyes. The front claws are extremely long. Badgers eat anything that doesn't run faster than they do, but their diet consists mainly of mice and ground squirrels, which they dig out of their burrows.
	Badgers are chiefly nocturnal. In the southwest, they mostly occur in desert valleys with deep soils that permit easy digging, but they also get up into the mountains. Uncommon around Las Vegas, keep an eye out everywhere, but don't expect to see them anywhere.
	Notice the white stripe from the top of the nose over the forehead and onto the back of the head
	Notice the extremely large claws.
	Badger burrow on the side of a low hill.
	Badger burrow showing marks left by the extremely long and widely spaced claws.

Notice the large opening and large dirt mound	Notice the large opening and curving tunnel
Notice the large claw marks on this side of the tunnel	Notice the large claw marks on this side and top of the tunnel


Badger burrow; notice the very long apron	Badger burrow; notice the very long apron
Badger burrow; notice the very long apron

Badger claw marks on the side of a Kit Fox burrow	Badger digging out a rodent; tasty dinner?
Badger skull	more to come ...