The badger (Meles meles) is the largest representative of weasels (Mustelidae) in the territory of the Czech Republic. It inhabits the temperate zone of Asia and all of Europe, except for the northern parts of Scandinavia. On the contrary, the wolverine lives in these northern parts. The wolverine is the largest weasel in the world. It lives in the tundra, in Siberia and also inhabits the American northern continent, including Canada.
The badger can weigh 11-19 kg and its dimensions are from 75 cm to 85 cm. Its coloring is gray with an ashy tinge. His limbs are black. A badger typically has a white head with two black stripes that run from the muzzle through the eyes to the ears.
Its robust limbs with huge claws enable the badger to dig burrows in which it lives and waits out the winter in false hibernation. This means that he moderates his activity, sleeps a lot, but his body temperature does not decrease. On warmer winter days, you can sometimes see the footprints of his strong limbs imprinted in the snow. They are infamous for the fact that thanks to them, a badger can bury a vole dog in a hole, which the dog cannot get out. In hunting terms, it is called that the dog is “walled” by the badger.
The badger is an omnivore that feeds on whatever is available during the entire active period. From plant roots, insects, worms, eggs, various small vertebrates, fruits, berries, etc.
The badger, as the name already suggests, searches for forest complexes that are divided into different fields, meadows and orchards, where it finds its food during its wanderings. During the summer, it is able to inhabit fields with mature vegetation (rape, corn), where it has enough food. Rather, it is a male badger, or a young badger.
In forests, it prefers sandy subsoil, in which it digs well. Such a burrow has several inlets (holes) and the cauldron (the main area of the burrow) is several meters underground. Sometimes it also looks for rocks, among which it digs a burrow. The whole complex of burrows is called badger castles. These are complete, sophisticated, interconnected burrows.
The badger is mainly a nocturnal creature, leaving its burrows at dusk and returning to them at dawn. This is an ideal chance for a successful hunt, because he always uses the same routes on his wanderings, which he marks. Thanks to this, badger droppings can be spotted and hunted.
The badger is more of a solitary type.
The breeding season (badger rutting) takes place in spring, through summer and into autumn. The badger has a latent pregnancy (secret), when the fetus begins to develop only from December. This phenomenon is very important in order to compare the dates of laying the young to a suitable period, which is the end of winter.
At the end of winter, dachshunds give birth to 2 to 5 cubs, which are nursed for around 10 weeks. In half a year of life, the cubs become independent. A badger reaches sexual maturity from 1 to 2 years of its life. A badger can live up to 15 years.
The legal time for hunting woodchucks is from September 1. until 11/30, which is not a lot of time to hunt him. This hunting time is allowed in the Czech Republic, hunting time may change abroad.
A badger cannot be hunted like a fox or wild boar all night, but only an hour before sunrise and an hour after sunset. Since the badger is mainly a nocturnal animal, it is not easy to take full advantage of the hunting opportunities.
However, the badger is particularly active in autumn, as it fattens up before winter.
Outside the forest complexes, where it has regular falls, it can be hunted at the edges of cornfields, where it wanders and gathers food. It is also active in the morning in the meadows, where it collects various earthworms, etc.
Badgers can be hunted mostly on waits, where we know they occur regularly. Of course, the badger can come to the feeding place and other usual places.
Another possible way to catch a badger is to wait near its burrows when it is still coming out in the daylight or returning in the morning. This method of hunting can of course be used under certain conditions. Burrows are not always in easily accessible places. At the same time, in this case there is a risk that if the badger is badly hit, it may crawl into a burrow, where we will lose it irretrievably.
Another possible method permitted by law is burrowing. This type of hunting is not for everyone. It takes a lot of strength, time, effort and, above all, a good Norse dog, which, however, is in great danger in contact with a badger because of its strong claws. A badger can “wall up” a burrower, that is, prevent him from exiting the burrow by burying him.
Badgers can be hunted with a shotgun with a shot size of 4.5 to 5.1 mm. Just like a fox. We have a choice of most possible calibers of ball guns. Basically badgers can be hunted safely with .243 win.
The ideal combination for badger hunting is a culbrok, which has one barrel with a ball and the other with a shotgun. Thanks to this, the combined positive properties can be used for hunting from close range or at a greater distance.
The official trophy, which is evaluated by the CIC method, is indicated by the skull and its dimensions. The dimensions of the skull are evaluated according to certain criteria, and the skull can be scored and medals awarded for its size.
Many hunters have their badgers dissected in their entirety. A tanned hide is a suitable souvenir of the badger hunt, which will decorate every interior of the hunting lounge.
As one of the few carnivores, the badger has tasty meat that can be cooked with garlic.
Of course, like all animals, the badger is sensitive to the muscle of the curled, which is an endoparasite, and the consumption of this endoparasite could cause very serious health problems for humans. Therefore, it is necessary to have the meat examined by the State Veterinary Administration. It’s nothing extraordinary. It is quite common to examine every piece of wild boar caught in this way, which is also susceptible to this parasite.
The most requested part is, of course, badger lard. This lard has very positive effects on inflammation of the lower respiratory tract when it is applied to the chest. This lard is a highly valued commodity.
We hope you found this article useful!
Your Huntastic Team
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