How good is a badger's eyesight?

wilippa · #1 (**permalink**) 14-09-2011, 12:48 PM

Self-explanitory question really but I'll elaborate. At about 7.30 pm yesterday I was in woodland in a Nature Reserve near my home. I turned a corner in the path and found myself on a collision course with a badger. It was within ten metres of me and kept coming straight at me. Either it couldn't see me or simply didn't.
Given that it was getting dark and we were under trees, this got me wondering how good their eyesight is. I know they're nocturnal but do they rely on eyesight or other senses?

Dogghound · #2 (**permalink**) 14-09-2011, 12:57 PM

The clue is in the eyes, badgers only have small eyes suggesting that they are not as important as other senses. However they do have limited vision despite this and do have a tapetum benind the retina in the eye which helps maximise the amount of light they can see at night time. Badgers are not particularly very sensitive to colours either which you would also expect from a nocturnal animal. Theycan recognise shape outlines and movement though very well during the night. Their sense of smell is by far their most developed sense and the one that they often use for hunting, to sense danger and socially. Their hearing is moderate and they can pick things up at long distance but its not quite as well developed as in some other mammals i.e. Canids, hence the small round ears.

Was it quite windy?

faz · #3 (**permalink**) 14-09-2011, 01:52 PM

I was a security officer in a hotel this one night. About 0300 I went on a patrol they have extensive grounds it was quite windy. On the lawn in front of me, a good 200 yards away I noticed a badger

with the wind in my direction I made my way to the badger. I wanted to see how close I could get to him/her with out being detected.

Well I got with in a meter of it and just stood there watching as it was eating the worms oblivious to me. Then a fox noticed me gave out a yelp well that scared the badger which ran straight towards me.

It still did not see me and, me in a tizzy had to shout and wave my arms badger then noticed me ran in the other direction or it would have run straight in to me. All I could think of was those THEETH

thought I was so clever sneaking up on him how the tables turned adrenalin is brown by the way.

Still a good close encounter with a badger so yes i would say eye sight is not so good

shirl · #4 (**permalink**) 14-09-2011, 02:11 PM

I was out walking with dogs a couple of months ago and spotted a young badger on the trail about 100m in front of us, it didn't notice us at first and kept heading towards us. One of my springers spotted it so we stopped and waited and it really did get close before it scurried off into the undergrowth. I have to say though, what a fantastic site, a live badger foraging in daylight.

Shirl

wilippa · #5 (**permalink**) 14-09-2011, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shirl

I have to say though, what a fantastic site, a live badger foraging in daylight.

Shirl

Actually, it scared the bee-jesus out of me. Never been that close to one before. I actually stepped back because I had visions of it attacking me.
I paced out the distance after it had gone but couldn't believe how close we'd got.

wilippa · #6 (**permalink**) 14-09-2011, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Was it quite windy?

Yes Dogghound. It's been pretty windy the last two or more days. Can't remember which way it was blowing though - was too startled to think about it!

Dogghound · #7 (**permalink**) 14-09-2011, 03:16 PM

If the wind is blowing from the badger to you they are less likely to smell you. If its just windy and the trees are blowing etc they are less likely to hear you. You can get close to badgers and watch them but you really need to consider their nose as the key factor, in success. Sometimes they can be extremely unaware of their surroundings when foraging or following a scent.

faz · #8 (**permalink**) 14-09-2011, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogghound

If the wind is blowing from the badger to you they are less likely to smell you. If its just windy and the trees are blowing etc they are less likely to hear you. You can get close to badgers and watch them but you really need to consider their nose as the key factor, in success. Sometimes they can be extremely unaware of their surroundings when foraging or following a scent.

Sometimes they can be extremely unaware of their surroundings when foraging or following a scent.
as in my post

when it ran towards me made my self present

Burko · #9 (**permalink**) 15-09-2011, 08:25 AM

I've had them bump right into my legs before now.
Eyesight isn't good, primary senses are smell and hearing.
I also think that when they've got their snouts down or are 'on a bit of a mission' they seem quite single-minded and oblivious to what's going on around them.

Brock Gray · #10 (**permalink**) 15-09-2011, 09:10 AM

A popular idea is they are familiar with the ‘outline’ of their environment, any change, e.g. a badger watcher 400m away from a sett stood braking the horizon, will be noticed on emergence,* someone 1m away in camo gear stood against a tree may not be.

Does a badger have good eyesight? It is ok, relatively speaking, that being adapted for nocturnal lifestyle, but how important is it maybe a more interesting question.

I think a badger’s ability to ‘get around’ is determined to an extent on the memory maps it builds up through its experience, which could be a significant factor contributing to the firm manner they defend their territory.

*Polish badgers probably wouldn't notice, they don’t tend to hang around the sett...the phrase, “Like a rat out of an aqueduct”, springs to mind.