I am continuing today with some of the babies we saw this summer. It is again rainy so a good day to edit film clips and drink hot chocolate with Amarula in it. If you haven’t tried Amarula you are in for a treat, if you like Bailey’s Irish Cream. It is from South Africa and is made from the fruit of the marula tree. Elephants love ripe marula fruit. It is very similar to Bailey’s but I like it better. It is commonly found in U.S. today including the Gardiner Market.
Badgers are related to minks, skunks, weasels and martens. They dig a den where they rest and find protection from predators and the weather. Females build more elaborate dens when they are ready to give birth but usually move the babies to a new den at least once before they are able to survive on their own.
Although their diet varies the most common prey animal for Yellowstone badgers is ground squirrels.
A couple of years ago we found a badger den with a mom and 3 cubs near the road just west of the Lamar River bridge. We had a great time filming badgers for days and met a number of really nice people there. This year we heard about a den with 2 babies on the Slough Creek road.
We spent the better part of a day there filming badgers and swatting mosquitoes. The female moved them to a new den before the next day. I am not sure if I was sorry or relieved. I loved the badgers but the mosquitoes were really bad.
I usually read up on the animal I am going to create a post about on Wikipedia. I am a biologist and have had two courses in mammalogy but I like to make sure I have my facts straight. Years and years ago I read one of J. Frank Dobie’s books where he talked about coyotes and badgers hunting together. I always thought that was just a story until about 20 years ago. We were parked at the Specimen Ridge Trailhead. We saw a coyote cross the road from north to south and then sniff around almost like he had lost something. He finally approached a badger’s den and it was almost as if he knocked on the badger’s door. The badger came out and they took turns following each other. They found a den of ground squirrels and the badger proceeded to dig out one of the holes. The coyote stood at another hole. Suddenly a ground squirrel ran out of the coyote’s hole and the coyote grabbed it. Two years ago in early spring during a snow storm we drove down the Slough Creek road and found a coyote sitting on a hillside looking rather wet and forlorn. A few minutes later a badger came over the top of the hill walking in the direction of what looked like a badger den. The coyote immediately started following the badger. The badger changed course and began to travel near the coyote. If either of them ever caught anything we didn’t see it because they walked over a hill and out of sight. Since then I have asked other photographers if they have ever seen a coyote and badger hunting together. Many of them have, but in Yellowstone I have only heard about them hunting together within a couple of miles of the Lamar River bridge. Wikipedia says they don’t really hunt together cooperatively, that the coyote always follows the badger and benefits from its digging skills and the badger never benefits. I know Wikipedia is a great source of information, but it differs from what I have witnessed and what I have heard from other people.
Do you have a badger – coyote story? If so I would love to hear it.
Our photos are available at www.vernelehmberg.com.
The coyote-badger relationship sounds more like the eagle-osprey relationship; one critter does all the work and the other takes advantage! Nice photos…really good digging tools on those badgers!
Not often I hear anyone talk about how great hot chocolate is with a splash of Amarula. Love the stuff. Great blog and loved the pictures of the badgers.
I am so glad you have discovered Amarula. It used to be hard to find in the U.S. but not anymore.
The badger and coyote hunting team that I watched in Slough Creek several times last year was definitely a cooperative team. The badger followed the coyote everywhere that it went, in the same tracks and everything. I have heard of them being sighted together this year but have not seen them myself. Although, I did see the two kits from this year and they were being very sly while crossing the road. Have also seen two different coyotes hunting with badgers east of the ranch in Lamar – not sure of the cooperation between those.
Deby, I asked people here and on my Facebook page to relay stories of badgers and coyotes hunting together. You are the only person that did. Thank you!