Page 48 - World of Animals - Issue #36

A badger’s sett

Badgers are obsessed with keeping their
enormous underground homes neat and tidy
European badgers live in some by defecating inside it. Burrowing prowess is also
of the most impressive burrows reflected in badger anatomy. Their short but strong

found in the animal kingdom. legs are tipped with elongated claws, helping them

Their setts, which are passed on to scoop away dirt with ease. With flexible and
throughout generations of badger muscular snouts, their sensitive noses are also used
families, can be centuries old, and for digging and probing. This can be particularly
are sometimes large enough to useful for sniffing out rabbits, which sometimes

accommodate multiple families. inhabit hard to reach chambers within the badgers’
With such complex, long-lasting extensive sett.
homes, it’s perhaps no surprise that Foxes are also known to take advantage of
badgers are known for their housekeeping badgers’ vast underground homes. Despite being
talents. They are incredibly clean, regularly rival predators, the two species will generally
clearing out old bedding from their sleeping tolerate one another thanks to a mutualistic
chambers and replacing it with fresh grass and relationship – badgers feed on food scraps left

straw. They also dig communal latrines outside, behind by foxes, while foxes benefit from the
ensuring that no fellow badger stinks out the sett burrow maintenance skills of their hosts.
Badgers rely on
their sensitive
noses to help them
fi nd their way
through the dark

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