what to feed a badger

What can I feed badgers?

• Fruit - grapes, apples, pears, plums
• Raw peanuts or brazil nuts (no salt or chocolate)
• Dried dog food (muesli type)
• Mealworms
• Peanut butter (unsalted, sugar-free)

Full Answer

What can I Feed my badger cubs?

If you have young badger cubs who visit, small pieces of plain food are OK - for example - plain moist soft-boiled rice, wet kitten food or puppy food. Whilst dry cat food and dry dog biscuits provide nourishment, they may not provide enough moisture; and so are best avoided in dry spells.

How do you treat a badger that won't eat?

Use wet cat or dog food, or specialist badger food. Provide some fruits, such as apples, plums or pears, and nuts, such as unsalted peanuts or brazils. Leave out root vegetables like carrots, along with some cooked potato. If food isn’t eaten overnight, remove anything that will go off and replace it with fresh offerings in the evening.

What do you feed a badger with a sore throat?

Use wet cat or dog food, or specialist badger food. Provide some fruits, such as apples, plums or pears, and nuts, such as unsalted peanuts or brazils. Leave out root vegetables like carrots, along with some cooked potato.

What do badgers eat in the wild?

Badgers love to dig and they will consume all sorts of insects they can find in the ground. They love to eat earthworms, grubs, slugs. Eurasian badger’s diet mostly consists of earthworms. A badger can consume hundreds of worms each night and they are not at all shy about mixing their food consumption.

What are badgers favorite food?

earthwormsThe staple food of badgers is usually earthworms which generally make up around 80% of their diet. They can eat several hundred worms each night. But being omnivorous, they will eat almost anything, from flesh and fruit to bulbs and birds' eggs.

Is it safe to feed badgers?

The Badger Trust does not recommend feeding badgers. You may enjoy attracting badgers but this could be problematic for others in your neighbourhood. If you feel like you must feed them in severe weather, when natural resources are in question, a small handful of peanuts will suffice.

Should badgers eat bread?

If you wish to feed badgers in your garden, they will readily eat peanuts, raisins, most soft fruits and bread (which can be soaked in water or spread with peanut butter).

Do badgers like carrots?

Lots of earthworms, in fact – badgers can eat several hundred in a night. They also eat fruit, birds' eggs and occasionally even small mammals. They dig holes in lawns to root out worms and in beds to get at bulbs, and they'll happily steal carrots and sweetcorn from vegetable plots.

What food can I leave out for badgers?

Feeding badgers: Provide some fruits, such as apples, plums or pears, and nuts, such as unsalted peanuts or brazils. Leave out root vegetables like carrots, along with some cooked potato. If food isn't eaten overnight, remove anything that will go off and replace it with fresh offerings in the evening.

Do badgers eat cooked rice?

If you want to give the badgers dog-food or cat-food, start with a value brand and see how the badgers like it. If you have young badger cubs who visit, small pieces of plain food are OK - for example - plain moist soft-boiled rice, wet kitten food or puppy food.

Do badgers eat strawberries?

Accordingly, badgers will tend to eat all manner of free Autumn food - including: berries (like elder berries, strawberries, blackberries and even yew berries)

Do badgers like peanut butter?

They will also eat seedless grapes, apples, pears, plums, plain peanuts or brazil nuts (no salt or chocolate), peanut butter sandwiches, a very few Sugar Puffs or Custard Cream biscuits.

Can badgers eat bird seed?

As a nation we are very fond of our wildlife and having badgers visit your garden can be very exciting. They are often attracted by bird seed but also if you have a lawn badgers will be keen to eat the grubs which live in it.

Do badgers eat sweetcorn?

A Badgers dig holes to catch earthworms and grubs and both are partial to fruit. They will also dig for tap roots and tubers including carrots and potatoes, and are fond of sweetcorn.

Is it good to have a badger in your garden?

It may not seem like it, but badgers are very beneficial to the environment in more than one way. So, why do they matter[i]? As badgers go about their habitual practices, they disperse seeds. This helps plants to spread and grow.

Do badgers drink milk?

In terms of feeding badgers, fresh water is perfect. Some people unwisely leave out dishes of milk or cream. This is generally OK for badgers, but harmful for hedgehogs. Hedgehogs can not digest cows milk or dairy products.

What to feed a hedgehog?

Feeding hedgehogs: Use plain kitten biscuits or a specialist hedgehog food (sold in garden centres), which helps to keep their teeth sharp and clean. If you have a problem with cats eating the food, try placing the food under a brick shelter with a hedgehog-sized gap in it.

What to do if food isn't eaten overnight?

If food isn’t eaten overnight, remove anything that will go off and replace it with fresh offerings in the evening. Research suggests that unpredictable supplementary feeding is beneficial e.g. moving the feeding spots around and scattering food in a more natural way. Avoid any interaction between dogs and hedgehogs.

Why is it important not to overfeed a badger?

Animals that struggle through times of great need such as drought are often dehydrated and malnourished. If you do happen to find a malnourished badger then it is important not to overfeed. It is critical to introduce foods to starving animals at a very slow rate.

What are the different types of badgers?

The four main groups of badger include the European badger, the ferret badger, the honey badger or ratel and the American badger. The badger species may look different and some do have behavior variations but they all do shelter underground in burrows called setts and all of them are omnivorous creatures with a very versatile diet.

Why do badgers have a mouth?

The badger’s mouth is also ideal for making twisting movements so they can attack creatures or access hard to reach foods with ease. These species can consume a huge variety of food types but they do show preference to some food sources like the following;

What is a badger's hide?

The badger has a tough hide that protects it from predators. Their short legs are ideal for digging out creatures from underground and their long heads and small ears allow them to fit into tiny holes so they can extract food. Badgers can also consume very tough food types.

How many cubs can a badger have?

These cubs are usually born only once a year and every mother can have a litter of 1 – 5 cubs.

Can a badger attack a kitten?

Some badger species like the honey badger do have carnivorous tendencies and most species do consume small animal species. A badger might choose to attack a small kitten although it is unlikely that they should lash out and attack a fully grown cat. There are however instances when badgers might be dangerous to cats.

Do badgers dig in the wild?

In the wild, badgers will dig their chambers in areas relatively close to plentiful foods. This includes areas where the soil is rich in earthworms or in locations that are rich in animal life so they can catch small animal species.

How do badgers hunt?

European badger, Meles meles, drinking from forest lake, reflecting itself in the calm water surface.

What do badgers eat?

Badgers are omnivores and have a varied diet. Their main food source is rodents that they dig up. They also eat a variety of insects like earthworms and grubs and they don’t shy away from lizards, snakes and even scorpions. They don’t eat a lot of vegetation but do eat corn, legumes and fruit.

Do badgers hunt alone?

Badgers are solitary hunters in that they don’t hunt with other badgers but there is a unique relationship with coyotes. It is not confirmed whether they work together on purpose or if they just benefit from hunting in the same area, but how it works is the badgers locate prey underground and dig them out and the coyotes chase them down.

Do honey badgers eat honey?

Honey badgers actually like eating the sweet bee larvae that is found in the honey. But I bet they don’t mind the honey too! How do they avoid getting stung by the bees? They don’t. They will tolerate the bee stings to enjoy the sweet treat. Due to their high tolerance for venom it is also thought that the effects of the bee stings may be minimal.

What are badgers?

Badgers, from the family Mustelidae, are short-legged, omnivorous mammals. They include otters, polecats, wolverines, and weasels. Badgers belong to Canoidea or Caniformia, a suborder of carnivorous mammals.

Where Do Badgers Find Their Food?

Badgers can look for food anywhere – usually along the countryside and people’s gardens where there is rich vegetation. Badgers will also take advantage of animal meat and carcasses if they’re available. They also raid garbage bins for food scraps.

Do Badgers Eat Hedgehogs?

In the UK, the main predators of hedgehogs are badgers. Since badgers have long claws and thick skin, they are among the many species of animals that can prey on and consume the defensive hedgehogs. If you noticed hedgehogs lurking around your area, then avoid attracting foxes or badgers until the young ones have matured.

What Can I Feed Badgers With?

If there are badgers in your garden, it is because of the food source available in your garden. However, some gardeners may react differently to their presence. Some people think they’re a nuisance because they can mess up a garden by digging up plants, eating vegetables and fruits, and ruining the plot to look for grubs and worms.

How To Feed Badgers

Pile a heap of food on your porch to lure the badgers. Their scavenging and eating habits allow them to sniff out, find and consume food. You can also scatter food all over your lawn or garden.

How Much Should I Feed Them?

Be careful when feeding wild mammals. Do it in such a way that they will not rely on the readily available food source. Feeding a variety of foods irregularly and in small amounts or as a rare treat is recommended, especially during spring and winter.

Do badgers rely on food?

Wildlife species - including badgers will come to rely on food handouts; so you should be careful to plan your feeding regime in advance. Make sure if you feed large amounts that you can always do this, so you will need to be sure of reliable holiday "cover" for when you are away.

Can badgers bite you?

If you want to attempt to civilise them (by providing a bowl), then use one of more METAL dog- type bowls, which are difficult to tip over (e.g. one for water and one for food). Badgers may be very rough with bowls - for example, biting them, kicking them, clawing at them and even using them in tug-of-war fights, and CERAMIC OR GLASS BOWLS WILL GET BROKEN eventually.

Benefits of Feeding Badgers

Badgers have different strategies and behaviors depending on their environment. It makes sense for them to take advantage of any food offered in an urban setting, whether that it via trash or food deliberately left out.

Downsides of Feeding Badgers

While there isn’t a risk to your cats and dogs, who can easily come inside and give the badger some space, there may be a problem in encouraging badgers if you have other animals. Smaller animals that live in runs or hutches outside could be seen as easy prey given the badger’s love of large rodents.

What Do Badgers Eat?

Badgers have impressive diets and will take advantage of what they can get. Our badgers shouldn’t need supplemental feeding unless times are really tight. But, they will still be grateful for anything offered.

What to Feed Badgers

If you have a secure environment and the space for badgers and want to help the local population out, you need to know what to feed them. The badger’s carnivorous diet in the wild means that you need to replicate this with plenty of meat. The best way to do this is to get real fresh meat and leave it out in a bowl.

Badgers As Pets

It’s generally not a very good idea to convert a badger into a pet because their natural instincts and personality do not easily adapt to becoming a companion of a human. Badgers have always been wild animals and cannot easily be converted into a household pet like a domestic dog or cat.

Are Badgers Friendly to Humans?

Badgers are solitary creatures that try to steer clear of humans. In the wild, a badger would hide from human activity and see them as a threat. There is a chance that if a badger is threatened, that it could become aggressive.

Do Badgers Smell Bad?

Badgers look like they could be soft and cuddly, but the truth is, in the wild, they can be very aggressive when threatened. One of their defense mechanisms is the use of chemical communication. They possess glands that have a very musky smell. These glands and smells can be compared to skunk, although slightly milder.

What Do Pet Badgers Eat?

Rats and mice make up most of a badger’s diet since they are mainly carnivores. However, they also feed on worms, grubs, slugs, snails, and other things. They are sometimes considered omnivores that eat a variety of small game mammals, rodents, and vegetation. Source.

Badgers Could Cause Household Destruction

It’s important to remember that badgers are exceptional at digging. This is one of their most common activities out in the wilderness. Badgers dig tunnels and hunt for food underground with their sharp claws.

Badgers Cannot Easily Be Trained

Training a wild animal can be extremely challenging and doesn’t always work. Wild instincts usually take priority in the mind of a wild animal, including badgers. Some wild animals can be tamed, however, this is not the same as domesticated, tamed animals are still wild.

How to help badgers?

You can help badgers by providing a bowl of water and occasionally a little wet or sloppy cat food or dog food, as badgers will come out of their setts to feed during the evenings.

Why do badgers need water?

Water is especially important in hot periods; as many badger cubs die of dehydration if they can't get enough wet food to drink. Providing fresh clean water in the summer is a great benefit for badgers and other species; and we would encourage gardeners to do this if they can.

Why are there hungry badgers in my garden?

Hungry Badgers in Your Garden. Badgers are increasingly having to adapt to urban life, due to pressure on our Countryside. They may occasionally be a minor nuisance by eating fruit, flower bulbs or root vegetables, or by making shallow pits in lawns when searching for insect grubs or earthworms .

Do badgers eat rabbits?

Apart from a minor nuisance, remember that badgers also eat garden insect pests, and other small mammals (especially vermin species like mice, rats and rabbits) as well as clearing up any small animal carcases/carrion so are not 100% bad in gardens.

Can hedgehogs eat cows milk?

Some people wish to feed a variety or nocturnal visitors to their gardens - including Hedgehogs , Foxes and badgers, and wonder what to do for the best. Hedgehogs are daft enough to eat soggy bread in cows milk BUT IT IS NOT GOOD FOR THEM (as dairy products can damage their digestive system).

Can you wash a dog food bowl with hot water?

If you wish to use a feeding bowl (!), then use a heavy metal dog-food bowl; and wash it in very hot water with a good detergent. Do not use the same wash water, dishcloths or tea towels for animal-dishes and human-dishes.

Do badgers eat takeaway food?

If a badger clan lives near a takeway; it is more likely that members will be familiar with the normal takeaway food; and be happy to eat it. Badgers which lives in a rural area may not have come across takeaway food waste; so they may be reluctant to eat it, if other food sources are to hand.