On May 5, at around 5 am in the morning, we came across a badger strolling down a road in the private garden allotment area.
I have seen/heard badgers there before and I have an approximate inkling where their sett is located although there might be more than one sett (e.g., a main sett and an outlier or two main setts inhabited by two different groups).
I am not certain whether badgers, once spooked, are more likely to run into the direction of their sett or toward the closest known shelter (e.g., vegetation cover) but I have mainly met badgers who either run toward the riparian forest on the left or on the right which has made me wonder if these individuals belong to different social groups.
It cannot be stated with any clarity because the individuals were running for the closest patch of thick vegetation and I did not encounter them in a place where the distance to shelter on both sides of the allotment area (where their setts might be located) would be equal (thus, perhaps forcing them to choose to run not toward the closest shelter as such but toward the shelter that is also nearby their sett).
As badgers are territorial, however, and if several groups existed in the area, they would run to their respective territories in order not to trespass.
However, the distance between nearest neighbour badger setts in continental Europe can vary between 2.2 to 13.3 km; averaging 6.4 km (Kowalzcyk, R. et al., 2000) and the entire allotment area is only about 2 km long which would perhaps make it suitable for a single badger group (another dwelling across the river).
The badger populations referenced in the study, on the other hand, were located in forest settings where populations would be sparser than in the private garden allotment area because, in a forest, the necessary resources would be more scattered while here the badgers can find earthworms and other food (including fruit and vegetables in autumn) in a more concentrated manner.
At the same time, this is not some ‘badger paradise’ because the hayfields only have short vegetation (more suited for badger foraging needs) for relatively short periods during the season, the orchards also tend to overgrow and most of the gardens have become fenced.
It is difficult for badgers to forage in tall grass because their foraging method is that of ‘hoovering up’ earthworms, larvae and other inverterbrates from the soil level.
Also, the gardens are not managed very sustainably, and many of them might not have high density earthworm populations because the ground is bare (earthworms feed on vegetation) and the soil is often dry and degraded. Existing lawns are frequently managed too intensely but they could still be foraged upon.
There are some compost heaps and even manure heaps or straw heaps which would be beneficial as many worms and beetles could be found there.
Many gardeners, however, simply throw their gardening waste in a large pile (often dumping it illegally in the riparian forest) where it does not decompose efficiently due to lack of aeration and lack of moisture; and earthworms in such ‘compost’ would be few.
The riparian forests are deciduous or mixed forests which should provide a suitable habitat but altogether the area could be intermediate between an agricultural landscape offering abundant and densely packed foraging opportunities vs. large, contiguous forests.
Accordingly, badger densities (and group sizes) could also fall between the two extremes (e.g., pastures vs. mixed forests).
I am mentioning this because the badger that we encountered ran toward an area which is quite far from where I have seen burrows that might have been a badger sett (although I discovered it during winter when the badgers were undergoing torpor and any signs of last-season’s activity were covered by snow) but it is certainly within the probable territorial range (and the individual chose the nearest shelter).
We encountered the individual rather out in the open and the badger had to run for about 150 metres to finally take a turn toward an area where a denser forest patch can be found.
However, it was rather clear that the individual knew where to run to in order to find shelter and I believe that his individual was a local resident.
It is of importance because it was not a large badger.
Had I met this individual in autumn, I would have thought it was this year’s cub.
Thusly, I assume that the little badger was last year’s cub, a yearling now.
In continental Europe, badger groups rarely become large (in contrast to, e.g., in the UK and Ireland).
Not all badgers in our high latitudes and harsh climate even form pairs, some lead a solitary life.
But there are also pairs and even larger groups where the local resource availability allows for such.
The study by Kowalzcyk, R. et al., 2000 refers to badger group sizes (in low density populations, forested habitats) of 2 – 6 (mean 3.8) although it is not entirely clear whether these estimates include the young of the year.
It appears that cubs were included and, therefore, these would be family groups with mother + cubs or mother + father + cubs.
The individual we encountered was a yearling and it did not seem to be a dispersing youth because it knew the area.
Thusly, I conclude that either this yearling had established its own sett somewhere away from its natal group, or it was a member of an existent social group which is then larger than a typical group in continental Europe (as such groups do not tend to include yearlings).
As to the ‘new territory hypothesis’, the yearling was escaping toward an area where I had never seen badgers before but it is not very likely that the yearling was running to its new home because the yearling was trotting toward what constitutes a ‘dead–end’, territory-wise.
It would be impossible to establish a cosy territory there because the allotment area is surrounded by a river that is rather deep and that does not have many ‘natural bridges’ (e.g., fallen trees, shallows).
If this badger had a territory there, it would have to cross the river on daily basis (otherwise its territory would extend into the known badger range) and I cannot imagine that a badger would enjoy swimming several times per day regardless of the current (which can be rather turbulent after rain).
It is more probable that the yearling was a part of the local resident group.
My observations earlier this year (perhaps early March?) suggest that there is an adult boar in this group because, on a few occasions, I heard him producing the churring vocalisations near another road in the same garden allotment.
This could have been a wandering male seeking to mate the resident female but he was located approximately in the same place during all three (?) observations and, upon having been discovered, on two occasions, he escaped toward where I have seen the likely badger sett.
My assumption is that this male is a resident, as well.
Then there should be a female and possibly her cubs (if any cubs were born/survived and I do not see why they would not have).
This suggests, that in this area, there resides a badger family which is perhaps less typical of continental Europe, i.e., it has a sow, a boar, the sow’s cubs and at least one yearling.
It will be very curious to see if I encounter this same yearling again (it was of very light colouring and I believe I would be able to recognize it).
As it was conspicuously small, it could have been a female and perhaps – if these badgers have, indeed, figured out how to manage their resources in their range which is perhaps more bountiful than forested wilderness but also restricted with regard to access and vegetation length suitable for badger foraging – the young female might stay, as well, raising her cubs alongside her mother.
Our region is less continental than those in Belarus and Poland (Kowalzcyk, R. et al., 2000) but we do not have nearly as much precipitation as regions closer to the Baltic Sea while our soils are fertile and should provide good earthworm/larva/insect habitats.
The deciduous nature of the riparian forests would also benefit the badgers.
I am very curious regarding this family and its future developments.
There are other badger families further inland (in a more forested area) and across the river (where intense agriculture is more prevalent).
The yearling might also have stayed because dispersal is not easy in these populations which are somewhat saturated and where joining existing groups might not be a frequent option.
I suppose that this family has become extremely nifty at figuring out when certain resources are available in their territory because this area has pronounced seasonality to its habitat patches.
The badgers would have to know when the hayfields become mowed, when the orchards present their harvest (or also become mowed), which gardens are not fenced (or which fences are not secured against a thrifty badger) and which gardens offer specific types of harvest at specific times.
Such cognitive mapping of their area would suggest that the family living there are long-term residents (a new family would not be able to thrive, at least not to the point that a group of at least 3 adults is formed) and perhaps the necessity to thoroughly memorize the local arrangement of the resources also promotes attachment to one’s home.
I wonder if part of the reason why the continental badgers have smaller social groups is their close relationship with their home.
The need to be aware of the seasonality and habitat distribution on their range in continental badgers might keep their minds active and it also might enable gaining a bonding experience with their home itself which is not as characteristic to, for example, Britain’s badgers who can get their resources relatively close to home in the same type of less dynamically changing habitats (e.g., nearby pastures).
If youth disperses not only out of necessity but also out of curiosity, in these territories that provide so many opportunities to exercise one’s mind and limb, young badgers might not be as prone to emigrate (or migrate temporarily) because they are kept busy by the challenges and riddles of their own home.
In fact, most analyses dedicated to dispersal focus on the physiological requirements and constraints (e.g., reproductive urge, resource availability, population density etc.) but I believe that there are also psychological aspects to dispersal.
I think that we regard animals almost as following these deterministic sets of behaviours and, relatively rarely, in our estimates, we include the factor of whim.
One might say that whim is just another expression of stochastic events but, in truth, whim can be predictable if we know what makes the species change from routine to unpredicted behaviour.
For example, animals have not imposed the same obligations upon themselves that we have imposed, as humans.
For them to disperse (temporarily or permanently), they do not necessarily need to ‘organize the legalities’ back at home.
They are also prepared to deal with novel life situations and their ‘profession’ is that of being able to acquire their resources but those resources can be acquired in any place where they can be located and accessed.
Thus, animals (especially, youth which is not obliged by the young of the year) can actually carry out the romantic scenario at times depicted in films or written stories about whereby an individual can one day go about their usual business until something catches their fancy or stimulates them in a manner that they wander off into the wide world of adventures and, in one instant, their life is not what it used to be.
As humans, we surround ourselves with familiar things, familiar people, familiar processes that serve as our insurance against unforeseen perils.
For example, in more traditional human habitats (small villages, countryside) that resemble animal home ranges (in many species) more than cities do, it is difficult to meet someone new and the romantic ‘fateful’ love stories do not tend to unfold or they can only happen to few people.
Even in urban conditions, we tend to surround ourselves with our interests and favourite pastimes, favourite locations, and we tend to zone out of whatever we do not fancy.
Perhaps, in cities, it is more probable to meet a stranger but it is still not very likely to meet someone who is completely ‘outside of the world as we used to know it’ because we have constructed our worlds so that everyone in them was quite similar to us.
I believe that many incidents of dispersal are based on the properties of the home range itself and, unless resource availability is a factor constraining to the degree or mortality, the individual’s dispersal might be predicted on the grounds of the natal home’s arrangement.
For example, in continental Europe, badgers might disperse very often because home ranges are very large, and the ‘binding force’ to the ‘home central’ (e.g., sett) is weakened as the individual wanders off into the forests and valleys where many adventures and novel experiences can be had, many other species met and probably also a greater number of migrating conspecifics manage to sneak through the residential territory leaving their scents or being caught sights of by the curious (and perhaps more curious than territorially furious) youth.
I find it tricky to explain myself because I fear to create an impression that animals are not dutiful.
What I would like to state is that in such vast, diverse homes abundant with impressions met on the way, the psychological link with what is familiar might be weaker.
In low density populations where badgers have large home ranges, they do not even always have central setts vs. smaller, rarely used outliers, and they can often stay overnight or for longer periods in setts closer to their current foraging area because it does not pay off to travel the distance back to the larger sett (e.g., natal sett where cubs are born or wintering sett where badgers spend their period of torpor).
Thusly, the cognitive maps that these badgers form might not be as revolved around some type of a ‘hub’.
We tend to plan our travels ahead of time and it would be most complicated for us to just one day stroll off with whatever is ‘on us’ out of our town, out of home, away from our family and friends.
Animals also plan their dispersal (they can ‘practise’ dispersal) and they also have attachments to their social group, home and routines but I think that the very act of finally leaving is not based on plans but it is based on that shift in the individual’s psychological state whereby they become aware that nothing is the same anymore and they are drawn more greatly by the discoveries further ahead than back.
I believe that, as humans, we barely recognize this sudden change which overpowers the bonds that we have had, but we are not entirely ignorant of it, either, because we write and sing, and make movies about it.
I think that the act of dispersal is based on some incident in the otherwise mundane routine of the individual which acts as ‘the Gandalf moment’.
And this ‘Gandalf moment’ which might entice us to explore or which teaches us that we are self-reliant and helps us overcome anxieties, or that tells us our families will do okay also without us, – it is more likely to befell some individuals vs. others based on the configuration of the home they already live in.
For individuals living in these large ranges, the experiences assuring that they can cope by themselves and that it is not scary to stay outside of the main sett etc. might accumulate during daily routines to the point that the breaking off from the home and the social group is somewhat easier, less dramatic because individuals are already quite independent.
I think that freedom is vital to animals, and that – as attached as they are to their kin and their home – they always entertain this option of just wandering off and making discoveries.
I believe that one of the reasons why in countries like the UK and Ireland badgers live in larger social groups on perhaps smaller ranges lies with the fact that these individuals have a need to satisfy their curiosity and to ‘quell their cognitive potential’ through means other than exploration.
If their ranges are small and perhaps consist of few resource-abundant habitats (pasture, cropland, small forest), these ranges might not satisfy their intellect.
At the same time, for example, badger moms cannot just leave the home if they are overcome with the desire to discover something new and to entice their mind, to have these experiences to process in order to understand the world and herself.
They cannot turn down abundant ranges, either, because it is crucial for them that their cubs grow up healthy.
In fact, in some homes, the boisterous activity by the well-nourished cubs itself might suffice for the mom to decline the calling of the scholarship presented by the world.
For some individuals, the perils awaiting outside of their territory, could be an additional factor and the appreciation for safety could cancel out that desire to be entertained by the world.
However, I think that some badger moms in these abundant ranges, have come to tolerate larger social groups because it helps them to stay put.
Namely, I do not wish to claim that this ‘freedom’ is akin to ridding ourselves from responsibilities and attachments.
I believe that all living beings have an inclination to challenge themselves on the level that they have evolved to, and it benefits the evolution of the species because the balance between what is known and what is not know constitutes our ability to have adapted to our environment thoroughly while leaving room for flexibility and innovation.
The ‘calling by the wide world’ is not based on some silly fascinations but rather on an ancient drive to remain fully active as cognitive beings, to utilize not only what we need to in order to survive in the arrangement that we have but to utilize also what has been passed on to us but what has not been necessary to us in the home/family that we have known thus far (e.g., foraging skills that are not relevant to the home range habitat).
Also, this drive inspires us to make new discoveries and to either bring them back to our old home/group or to carry them with us until we can belong with a new home/group.
Perhaps if we pick up new skills that we find highly enjoyable, it might be difficult to return home where such skills are not needed and our search for a new home is based on our newfound talents and turns in our careers.
For example, I believe that badgers are gourmets by nature.
What if a badger accidentally came across fruit left in the forest by some tourists and they were thence overcome with a desire to taste this type of fruit again to the point they left their home to find where such fruit grows?
In small homes with little variety, these urges to apply oneself fully must be quenched without roaming, and badgers might wish to afford living in large groups because their social life provides them with sufficient stimuli to keep evolving, to keep exercising all of their faculties.
The social affiliations (attachments) might also be of help because they would serve to clearly ‘centre’ the individual with the sett being a focal place of activity that draws the individual ‘back home’.
The smaller the range, perhaps the more intense the sett attraction must be to keep individuals from ‘wanderlust’.
Perhaps in intermediate homes such as the one where the individual I observed dwells, the tendency to disperse is belated because there is much to learn and the cognitive stimuli are abundant and diverse.
One cannot fully ‘learn their home range’ during one year because it is seasonally dynamic, and young badgers might not feel the urge to leave because they have not yet learned all there was to be learned (and, of course, due to their attachments as well as the risks outside of the familiar territory).
It is not as much discovery of the world (in the sense that we must be urged to always abandon what has been known to us) as much as it perhaps discovery of oneself, of one’s potential.
Once the cub has grown and surpassed the exploration of their basic motor, social, foraging skills, they might feel the need to keep learning.
When the individual has become, for example, a mother, they might, at first, be overwhelmed with the discoveries concealed within her offspring.
And perhaps, over time, she might wish to learn more not about herself but about her offspring through introducing them to ever new, safe experiences back at home.
Another reason behind forming a social group might be that of the badger mom providing new learning experiences for her cubs.
In dense populations, acquiring social skills could be vital to one’s survival and learning these skills in a safe environment (finding out how other badgers function and how to interact with them securely) could be highly profitable for the cubs.
I believe that the freedom lies within the need to learn, to discover, to apply ourselves, and it is not a selfish act because it is done for the benefit of the entire species.
I think that animals are as happy if they do not have to leave home/family because it provides enough stimulation but the world has changed… and many homes are not what they used to be, and they cannot offer a truly full life.
The ‘Gandalf moment’ is perhaps a moment of realization of one’s responsibility to discover new uses to our existent nature (as in the case of Bilbo) or to pursue a calling that lies beyond our known capacity (as in the case of Frodo).
Perhaps it also follows a realization of one’s uniqueness (e.g., through the simple act of being able to notice oneself ‘from aside’ when the assistance, the scent, the sound of one’s group and one’s home is somewhat left behind) because an individual is not merely a replication of one’s parents but an unprecedented combination which entitles possibilities for the whole species.
Thus, the ‘Gandalf moment’ could also be a very personal experience whereby the individual perceives some situation not through the perspective of their social group but from their individual perspective which is the result of their specific genetic make-up and their specific life story.
If that experience is very dissimilar from the rest of their social group, they might feel inclined to seek for others whom the individual would be better able to identify with because the desire to share would be overwhelming (sharing being impossible in the current social group).
This could be especially true in groups where the father does not stay with the mother and her cubs (half of the genetic constitution is absent from being reflected and understood).
References
Kowalczyk, R. et al. (2000). Badger density and distribution of setts in Bialowieza Primeval Forest (Poland & Belrus) compared to other Eurasian populations. Acta Theriologica. 45. 10.4098/AT.arch.00-39.
Notes by Ieva 