American Badger
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Four different subspecies of American Badger (Taxidea taxus) inhabit open spaces of North America, west of the Appalachian mountains.
- Taxidea taxus berlandieri: Oklahoma and Texas, west to the northern Sierra Nevada,south to Mexico
- Taxidea taxus jacksoni: Ohio, extreme southeastern Ontario, Michigan, northern Indiana, northern Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Quebec, and southeastern Saskatchewan
- Taxidea taxus jeffersonii: Colorado, Wyoming, and eastern Montana, Washington, Oregon, western California, southern British Columbia
- Taxidea taxus taxus: western Ohio, Indiana, northwest Missouri, eastern Colorado, eastern Wyoming, and eastern Montana, Alberta, Manitoba, and southwestern Saskatchewan
From high elevations to desert floors, any space with soil sufficiently soft to dig a deep burrow, along with a small mammal and rodent population for food, provides suitable badger habitat.
Physically, they have compact, tree stump strong bodies, with brown fur, dark face and a stripe on the forehead.
In 1957, the state of Wisconsin designated the badger the official state animal. It is also the mascot for the Univeristy of Wisconsin.
© 2010. Patricia A. Michaels