Badger mating habits

[Bumblebeebob]

Calling all Badger experts!
For some years now I have had 2 regular, large Badgers (one with a limp which I call Limpy which I think is an old female) visiting my garden but more recently an incomer (which I call Bully!) has been arriving & barging the regulars away from the food. In the past few evenings one of them has been making strange noises which I identified as a Churr. The Churr is normally used by the males prior to mating which I thought was unusual as peak mating season was in February. Yesterday evening the 2 regulars were eating when the smaller Bully Badger appeared & pushed Limpy away (despite being 2 thirds the size). The other Large Badger started Churring again & to my surprise mounted the smaller Badger! I'm not sure she was that interested as she carried on munching through the pile of peanuts. She must have got fed up with his attentions though & scuttled off to another garden with him in hot pursuit. I could still hear them!
My question is do Badgers mate all through the year or was he just chancing his luck?

[valleyforge]

Hi there Bumblebeebob,

Badgers tend to mate anytime between early February and the autumn.

However, most interestingly, badgers (like other mustelids such as pine martens, stoats and mink) use 'delayed implantation' as a reproductive strategy.

This basically means that although the animals can mate and fertilization can take place at almost any time of year, when the egg reaches the uterus, they intitially remain free instead of becoming embedded in the uterine wall.

Then, at an appropriate time (probably factored by availability of food supplies), implantation takes place followed by a normal gestation period ... which for badgers is about 7 weeks.

Mustelids are my favorites, by the way

[Bumblebeebob]

Thanks for that Valleyforge, I wasn't sure if it was just late winter they mated.

[Badger Watching Man]

What an excellent view for you, although I always feel slightly embarrassed to be watching things like this. The badgers don't seem to mind though.

Badgers do mate all year round, thanks to the delayed implantation, although they do it with different degrees of 'seriousness'. Ernest Neal makes a distinction between short- and long-duration matings, with the longer events leading to fertilisation. Would it be rude to ask how long it lasted?

[Bumblebeebob]

Originally Posted by Badger Watching Man

What an excellent view for you, although I always feel slightly embarrassed to be watching things like this. The badgers don't seem to mind though.

Badgers do mate all year round, thanks to the delayed implantation, although they do it with different degrees of 'seriousness'. Ernest Neal makes a distinction between short- and long-duration matings, with the longer events leading to fertilisation. Would it be rude to ask how long it lasted?

Hello Badger Watching Man,

Yes it was a bit embarrassing to watch, I never really expected them to "get it on" in front of me! The smaller female in question is more wary of humans than the other 2 & usually runs off if she knows I'm around. They didn't give me enough time to get my camera before they scuttled off but I could still hear his churring & her chittering in the dark for a good 10 minutes or so, it's been going on a few evenings now so maybe she isn't keen!
I think the 2 regulars live in a neighbour's garden but there are quite a few others that can be seen foraging in the front gardens that come from the woods around the corner. The ground is a bit dry at the moment & they are foraging further afield. There was evidence of digging in the garden last night where I had been watering. There has also been a cub that shows up with the regular 2 but it keeps hidden under the shrubs, Limpy Badger even takes peanut butter sandwiches to it under the bushes.
I was wondering if a lot of incest goes on in Badger circles?

[badgerwatcher]

Do you have clearlydefined badger paths? Mine tell me that there are several routes through my garden coming from different places, so I assume they may be badgers from different groups. Haven't seen many for a while. WE're getting more foxes and hedgehogs at the moment.

[Badger Watching Man]

Good question!

I think the badgers' social structure helps them out here, as only a few of the high-ranking members of the clan will mate. What happens is that non-dominant males will leave their sett and join a neighbouring one, and it is this movement that tends to prevent in-breeding.

It sounds like you've got a great chance to study them if the local sett is so close, especially since you can recognise the individual badgers.

[Bumblebeebob]

Originally Posted by badgerwatcher

Do you have clearlydefined badger paths? Mine tell me that there are several routes through my garden coming from different places, so I assume they may be badgers from different groups. Haven't seen many for a while. WE're getting more foxes and hedgehogs at the moment.

There is only one way into my garden really, which is only small, though they can go further afield at the moment since my neighbour's fence blew down in the winter. It'll be interesting to see what they do when he puts it back up!
The Foxes use the same route as the Badgers, though they also use the garage roof & my parked car as a jump point to the road! If I leave my side gate open then I get a few more Badgers from the nearby woods but they usually come much later. Last time I tried that they made a right mess of my small patch of grass so I tend to keep it closed. No Hedgehogs here but I did read that Badgers & Hedgehogs don't usually mix. They make a nice Badger snack apparently.

[badgerwatcher]

[quote=Bumblebeebob;500743] It'll be interesting to see what they do when he puts it back up!
Knock it down again.
I did wonder if there was a corelation between the decrease in badgers and increase in hedgehogs. The badgers are still landscaping the back garden, and occasionally nip round to the front for a strawberry supper, or dig up a few newly planted seedlings, but mainly the front garden and the compost bins are the hedgehogs'.