![]() ![]() A badger can weigh up to 25 pounds and defends itself when cornered. The Badger forages day and night, but is more nocturnal where humans threaten it. They have been known to attack and kill animals as big as a horse. This very ferocious animal has few enemies. Its long hair protects it from snakebites, unless a snake strikes it directly on the nose. It feeds on ground squirrels, gophers, rats, mice, birds, and even rattlesnakes. The open burrows dug are very dangerous to rancher’s livestock. It has short black legs with extremely long front claws, which it uses for digging rodents from the ground. The wild, flat body is yellowish gray that becomes more yellowish on the tail and belly. It has a distinctive black-and-white face and a white stripe from its nose to its shoulders. ![]() The American Badger is the largest member of the “weasel” family. The American badger can be found right across the western two-thirds of the US, and the range extends into Canada in the North and Mexico in the south. They can also reside in mountainous areas up as far as the arctic-alpine zone, farmland, marshy areas, prairies and deserts. The badger prefers open plains, farmlands and the edges of woods. After about a year, the cubs break away of their dependence on their mother and go out on their own. The whole pack shares in the job of feeding them with regurgitated meat from a kill. After about four weeks, the cubs are able to eat meat. They are totally dependent upon their mother, and she in turn relies on her mate to bring her the food she needs. ![]() The cubs are born deaf, blind and helpless. Since the ground is often frozen, she is often forced to return to an old den. But after mating in March, the pregnant female will leave the pack to find a nursery den. The wolves are always on the move in the fall and winter. This is the classic case of “Only the strongest will survive”. The wolves will then take down the smaller and weak animals. Once the wolves have infiltrated the circle the caribou will flee. To accomplish this, one wolf will move from side to side to try and get the caribou to shift. The wolves now have to somehow get the caribou to shift. Once the pack has found a herd of caribou, the caribou will form a circle to protect their young. Surprise attacks are almost impossible in the tundra. caribou) are too large for a single wolf to take down. Wolves must hunt in packs because the animals they hunt (e.g. The wolf will then start its own pack when other lone wolves enter the territory. When a lone wolf finds unoccupied territory, it will claim it by marking it with its scent. They avoid other wolves, unless they are potential mates. Lone wolves are usually young males that have left the pack in search of their own territories. The pack cooperates in feeding and caring for the cubs. All the wolves in the pack look up to and follow the Alpha male and female. Wolves usually live in small packs, or family groups, that consist of a breeding pair (the alpha male and female), their cubs, and their unmated offspring. When the temperature drops, the pack will follow the migrating animals south. Since there is not much grass on the “frozen tundra”, the wolf must travel great distances to find food.Ī single wolf pack often travels distances up to 800 square miles in search of prey. The wolf preys on lemmings and arctic hare, but its most substantial source of food is the musk ox and caribou. They have a keen sense of sight, smell, and hearing. The arctic wolf is one of the few mammals that can tolerate these conditions. They can live in places where the temperature is consistently below zero and the ground is always frozen. Arctic wolves inhabit some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world: tundra, rolling hills, glacier valleys, ice fields, shallow lakes and green flats. ![]()
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