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61-505: El Tejón means "The Badger " in Spanish. The rancho is now a part of the 270,000 acres (1,093 km) Tejon Ranch . José Antonio Aguirre (1799–1860) was a merchant who lived in Santa Barbara and San Diego . Ygnacio del Valle was (1808–1880) was a landowner and one time alcalde of Pueblo of Los Angeles . Neither of the owners lived on the rancho. They chose instead to hire

122-635: A "mayordomo" (ranch foreman) to be in full charge of the vaqueros needed to guard the cattle. With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War , the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho El Tejon was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and

183-495: A badger as a pet or offering one for sale is an offence in the United Kingdom under the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act. In Europe during the medieval period, accounts of badgers in bestiaries described badgers as working together to dig holes under mountains. They were said to lie down at the entrance of the hole holding a stick in their mouths, while other badgers piled dirt on their bellies. Two badgers would then take hold of

244-495: A badger or to interfere with a sett unless under license from a statutory authority . The Hunting Act of 2004 further banned fox hunters from blocking setts during their chases. Badgers have been trapped commercially for their pelts, which have been used for centuries to make shaving brushes , a purpose to which it is particularly suited owing to its high water retention. Virtually all commercially available badger hair now comes from mainland China , though, which has farms for

305-683: A cooperative fashion. The diet of the Eurasian badger consists largely of earthworms (especially Lumbricus terrestris ), insects , grubs , and the eggs and young of ground-nesting birds . They also eat small mammals , amphibians , reptiles and birds , as well as roots and fruit . In Britain, they are the main predator of hedgehogs , which have demonstrably lower populations in areas where badgers are numerous, so much so that hedgehog rescue societies do not release hedgehogs into known badger territories. They are occasional predators of domestic chickens, and are able to break into enclosures that

366-483: A couple of Zorrillos , or skunks—odious animals, which are far from uncommon. In general appearance, the Zorrillo resembles a polecat, but it is rather larger and much thicker in proportion. Conscious of its power, it roams by day about the open plain and fears neither dog nor man. If a dog is urged to the attack, its courage is instantly checked by a few drops of the fetid oil, which brings on violent sickness and running at

427-728: A dormant stage. Over winter, multiple females (as many as 12) huddle together; males often den alone. Often, the same winter den is repeatedly used. Although they have excellent senses of smell and hearing, they have poor vision, being unable to see objects more than about 3 m (10 ft) away, making them vulnerable to death by road traffic . They are short-lived; their lifespan in the wild can reach seven years, with an average of six years. In captivity, they may live for up to 10 years. Skunks mate in early spring and are polygynous (that is, successful males are uninhibited from mating with additional females). Before giving birth (usually in May),

488-654: A fox cannot. In southern Spain, badgers feed to a significant degree on rabbits. American badgers are fossorial carnivores – i.e. they catch a significant proportion of their food underground, by digging. They can tunnel after ground-dwelling rodents at speed. The honey badger of Africa consumes honey , porcupines , and even venomous snakes (such as the puff adder ); they climb trees to gain access to honey from bees' nests. Badgers have been known to become intoxicated with alcohol after eating rotting fruit. Hunting badgers for sport has been common in many countries. The Dachshund (German for "badger hound") dog breed

549-594: A light-coloured stripe from head to tail, and dark legs with light-coloured underbellies. They grow to around 90 cm (35 in) in length, including tail. The European badger is one of the largest; the American badger, the hog badger, and the honey badger are generally a little smaller and lighter. Stink badgers are smaller still, and ferret-badgers are the smallest of all. They weigh around 9–11 kg (20–24 lb), while some Eurasian badgers weigh around 18 kg (40 lb). The word "badger", originally applied to

610-696: A mother badger protecting her cubs. An internet meme ( Badger, badger, badger ) appeared viral in the early years of YouTube , later initiating other versions of the animation. As a sub-series of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise , Sticks the Badger is one of the main characters of the Sonic Boom series . Skunk Conepatus Mephitis Spilogale † Brachyprotoma Mydaus † Palaeomephitis † Promephitis Skunks are mammals in

671-427: A skunk finding its way into a garage or basement where pet food is kept. Skunks commonly dig holes in lawns in search of grubs and worms. Skunks use their long claws to break apart rotting logs to find insects that live within them. They also use those claws to help dig for insects, which leaves behind pits, which are easy signs of foraging. The claws also help with pinning down live and active prey. Skunks are one of

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732-467: A small free-swinging door that is heavy enough that rabbits don't seem to learn how to push them open. The recommended door size is 18 by 25 cm and weighs about 1.1 kg. With a special license, badger fencing and one-way gates may be installed to exclude resident badgers from an area being developed. Badgers have been used in traditional medicine in Europe, Asia and Africa. Although rarely eaten today in

793-612: A verb, skunk is used to describe the act of overwhelmingly defeating an opponent in a game or competition. Skunk is also used to refer to certain strong-smelling strains of Cannabis whose smell has been compared to that of a skunk's spray. Skunk species vary in size from about 15.6 to 37 in (40 to 94 cm) long and in weight from about 1.1 lb (0.50 kg) (spotted skunks) to 18 lb (8.2 kg) ( hog-nosed skunks ). They have moderately elongated bodies with relatively short, well-muscled legs and long front claws for digging. They have five toes on each foot. Although

854-477: Is a cete, but badger colonies are more often called clans. A badger's home is called a sett. The following list shows where the various species with the common name of badger are placed in the Mustelidae and Mephitidae classifications. The list is polyphyletic and the species commonly called badgers do not form a valid clade . Badgers are found in much of North America , Great Britain , Ireland and most of

915-413: Is a low animal, about the size of a little dog or cat. I mention it here, not on account of its excellence, but to make of it a symbol of sin. I have seen three or four of them. It has black fur, quite beautiful and shining; and has upon its back two perfectly white stripes, which join near the neck and tail, making an oval that adds greatly to their grace. The tail is bushy and well furnished with hair, like

976-528: Is an animal that is often underestimated, because it lives quietly until attacked, but which, when provoked, can fight off animals much larger than itself, which resembles the Hufflepuff house in several ways. Many other stories featuring badgers as characters include Kenneth Grahame 's children's novel The Wind in the Willows (1908), Beatrix Potter 's The Tale of Mr. Tod (1912; featuring badger Tommy Brock),

1037-719: Is considered an iconic species of the British countryside and it has been claimed by shadow ministers that "The government's own figures show it will cost more than it saves...", and Lord Krebs, who led the Randomised Badger Culling Trial in the 1990s, said the two pilots "will not yield any useful information". When protecting woodlands from deer and rabbit, installing fences in badger territory can be problematic. Because badgers are persistent and strong, if fences are placed across their "runs"—established foraging and travel paths—they may well dig through or under, damaging

1098-664: Is protective of her kits, spraying at any sign of danger. The male plays no part in raising the young. Skunks are omnivorous , eating both plant and animal material and changing their diets as the seasons change. They eat insects, larvae , earthworms , grubs , rodents , lizards, salamanders , frogs, snakes, birds, moles , and eggs . They also commonly eat berries , roots , leaves , grasses, fungi and nuts . In settled areas, skunks also seek garbage left by humans. Less often, skunks may be found acting as scavengers , eating bird and rodent carcasses left by cats or other animals. Pet owners, particularly those of cats, may experience

1159-409: Is rare for a healthy skunk to bite a human, though a tame skunk whose scent glands have been removed (usually on behalf of those who will keep it as a pet) may defend itself by biting. There are, however, few recorded incidents of skunks biting humans. Skunk bites in humans can result in infection with the rabies virus. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recorded 1,494 cases of rabies in skunks in

1220-472: Is to a skunk's advantage to warn possible predators off without expending scent: black and white aposematic warning coloration aside, threatened skunks will go through an elaborate routine of hisses, foot-stamping, and tail-high deimatic or threat postures before resorting to spraying. Skunks usually do not spray other skunks, except among males in the mating season. If they fight over den space in autumn, they do so with teeth and claws. Most predators of

1281-583: Is variable from two to 15. Badgers can run or gallop at 25–30 km/h (16–19 mph) for short periods of time. Some species, notably the honey badger , can climb well. In March 2024, scientists released footage of a wild Asian badger climbing a tree to a height of 2.5 m in South Korea. Badgers are nocturnal . In North America, coyotes sometimes eat badgers and vice versa, but the majority of their interactions seem to be mutual or neutral. American badgers and coyotes have been seen hunting together in

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1342-472: The Altai Region of Russia. In Croatia badger meat is rarely eaten, but when it is, it is usually smoked, dried, or served in goulash . In France, badger meat was used in the preparation of several dishes, such as Blaireau au sang , and it was a relatively common ingredient in countryside cuisine. Badger meat was eaten in some parts of Spain until recently. Badgers are sometimes kept as pets. Keeping

1403-579: The European badger ( Meles meles ), comes from earlier bageard (16th century), presumably referring to the white mark borne like a badge on its forehead. Similarly, a now archaic synonym was bauson 'badger' (1375), a variant of bausond 'striped, piebald', from Old French bausant , baucent 'id.'. The less common name brock ( Old English : brocc ), ( Scots : brock ) is a Celtic loanword (cf. Gaelic broc and Welsh broch , from Proto-Celtic *brokkos ) meaning "grey". The Proto-Germanic term

1464-593: The European badger , five species of Helictidinae (genus Melogale ) or ferret-badger , the honey badger or ratel Mellivorinae (genus Mellivora ), and the American badger Taxideinae (genus Taxidea ). Badgers include the most basal mustelids; the American badger is the most basal of all, followed successively by the ratel and the Melinae; the estimated split dates are about 17.8, 15.5 and 14.8 million years ago, respectively. The two species of Asiatic stink badgers of

1525-553: The Rupert Bear adventures by Mary Tourtel (appearing since 1920), T. H. White 's Arthurian fantasy novels The Once and Future King (1958, written 1938–41) and The Book of Merlyn (1977), Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970) by Roald Dahl , Richard Adams 's Watership Down (1972), Colin Dann 's The Animals of Farthing Wood (1979), and Erin Hunter 's Warriors (appearing since 2003). In

1586-561: The University of Durham . In 2007, the appearance of honey badgers around the British base at Basra, Iraq , fueled rumours among the locals that British forces deliberately released "man-eating" and "bear-like" badgers to spread panic. These allegations were denied by the British army and the director of Basra's veterinary hospital. On 28 August 2013, the PC video game Shelter was released by developers Might and Delight in which players control

1647-438: The otters , wolverines , martens , minks , polecats , weasels , and ferrets ). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity. All belong to the caniform suborder of carnivoran mammals. The fifteen species of mustelid badgers are grouped in four subfamilies: four species of Melinae (genera Meles and Arctonyx ) including

1708-546: The Americas, such as wolves , foxes , and badgers , seldom attack skunks, presumably out of fear of being sprayed. The exceptions are reckless predators whose attacks fail once they are sprayed, dogs, and the great horned owl , which is the skunk's only regular predator. In one case, the remains of 57 striped skunks were found in a single great horned owl nest. Skunks are common in suburban areas, and domestic dogs are often sprayed by skunks. There are many misconceptions about

1769-422: The United States for sprayed dogs. It involves hydrogen peroxide , baking soda , and liquid dish soap . Skunk spray is composed mainly of three low-molecular-weight thiol compounds, ( E )-2-butene-1-thiol, 3-methyl-1-butanethiol, and 2-quinolinemethanethiol, as well as acetate thioesters of these. These compounds are detectable by the human nose at concentrations of only 11.3 parts per billion. It

1830-583: The United States for the year 2006—about 21.5% of reported cases in all species. Skunks in fact are less prominent than raccoons as vectors of rabies. (However, this varies regionally in the United States, with raccoons dominating along the Atlantic coast and the eastern Gulf of Mexico , while skunks instead predominate throughout the Midwest , including the western Gulf, and in California.) Mephitis mephitis ,

1891-457: The United States or the United Kingdom, badgers were once a primary meat source for the diets of Native Americans and European colonists. Badgers were also eaten in Britain during World War II and the 1950s. In some areas of Russia, the consumption of badger meat is still widespread. Shish kebabs made from badger, along with dog meat and pork, are a major source of trichinosis outbreaks in

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1952-475: The animal evolved ( Italian tasso , French taisson — blaireau is now more common— Catalan toixó , Spanish tejón , Portuguese texugo ). A male European badger is a boar, a female is a sow, and a young badger is a cub. However, in North America the young are usually called kits, while the terms male and female are generally used for adults. A collective name suggested for a group of colonial badgers

2013-427: The animal; two have been killed in our court, and several days afterward there was such a dreadful odor throughout our house that we could not endure it. I believe the sin smelled by Saint Catherine de Sienne must have had the same vile odor. In Southern United States dialect, the term polecat is sometimes used as a colloquial nickname for a skunk, even though polecats are only distantly related to skunks. As

2074-458: The badger population is prohibited in many European countries since badgers are listed in the Berne Convention , but they are not otherwise the subject of any international treaty or legislation. Many badgers in Europe were gassed during the 1960s and 1970s to control rabies . Until the 1980s, badger culling in the United Kingdom was undertaken in the form of gassing, allegedly to control

2135-446: The day they shelter in burrows, which they can dig with their powerful front claws. For most of the year the normal home range for skunks is 0.5 to 2 miles (1 to 3 km) in diameter, with males expanding during breeding season to travel 4 to 5 miles (6 to 8 km) per night. Skunks are not true hibernators in the winter, but do den up for extended periods of time. However, they remain generally inactive and feed rarely, going through

2196-490: The family Mephitidae . They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands . Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginger colored, but all have warning coloration . While related to polecats and other members of the weasel family , skunks have as their closest relatives the Old World stink badgers . In alphabetical order,

2257-444: The female excavates a den to house her litter of four to seven kits. Skunks are placental , with a gestation period of about 66 days. When born, skunk kits are blind and deaf, but already covered by a soft layer of fur. About three weeks after birth, they first open their eyes; the kits are weaned about two months after birth. They generally stay with their mother until they are ready to mate, roughly at one year of age. The mother

2318-430: The fence and leaving openings that rabbits can get through. Ideally, badger runs should be identified before fence construction begins. The gateways are constructed in stages over time to ensure that badgers are using the manmade openings instead of damaging the new fence: starting with leaving a cut opening in the fence at ground level, later laying a floor (threshold), later still framing the opening, and eventually hanging

2379-454: The genus Mydaus were formerly included within Melinae (and thus Mustelidae), but more recent genetic evidence indicates these are actually members of the skunk family (Mephitidae). Badger mandibular condyles connect to long cavities in their skulls, which gives resistance to jaw dislocation and increases their bite grip strength. This in turn limits jaw movement to hinging open and shut, or sliding from side to side, but it does not hamper

2440-448: The glands found in species of the family Mustelidae . Skunks have two glands, one on each side of the anus. These glands produce the skunk's spray, which is a mixture of sulfur -containing chemicals such as thiols (traditionally called mercaptans), which have an offensive odor. The thiols also make their spray highly flammable. A skunk's spray is powerful enough to ward off bears and other potential attackers. Muscles located next to

2501-660: The government authorised a limited cull led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs . However it was later deferred and a wide range of reasons given. In August 2013 a full culling programme began, whereby it was expected that about 5,000 badgers would be killed over six weeks in West Somerset and Gloucestershire using a mixture of controlled shooting and free shooting (some badgers were to be trapped in cages first). The cull caused many protests, with emotional, economic and scientific reasons being cited. The badger

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2562-929: The grant was patented to Aguirre and del Valle in 1863. The Sebastian Indian Reservation (Tejon Indian Reservation) was located in the Tejon Creek Canyon section of the rancho from 1853 to 1864. It was the first Indian reservation in California, used primarily to manage the Emigdiano band Chumash people . It was established by Edward F. Beale , when he was the federal Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California. Aguirre sold his undivided half interest in Rancho El Tejón to Jonathan (Juan) Temple in 1857. In 1865, Beale purchased Rancho El Tejón from Ygnacio del Valle and Juan Temple. Beale would acquire three other Mexican Land Grants — Rancho Los Alamos y Agua Caliente , Rancho Castac and Rancho La Liebre — to create

2623-563: The historic novel Incident at Hawk's Hill (1971) by Allan W. Eckert a badger is one of the main characters. Badgers are also featured in films and animations: a flash video called Badgers shows a cete doing calisthenics . The 1973 Disney animated film Robin Hood depicts the character of Friar Tuck as a badger. In the Doctor Snuggles series, Dennis the handyman was a badger. In Europe, badgers were traditionally used to predict

2684-480: The length of winter . The badger is the state animal of the U.S. state of Wisconsin , though this is a reference to the state's early miners rather than the animal itself, and Bucky Badger is the mascot of the athletic teams at the University of Wisconsin–Madison . The badger is also the official mascot of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada; The University of Sussex , England; and St Aidan's College at

2745-472: The living species of skunks are: The word skunk is dated from the 1630s, adapted from a southern New England Algonquian language (probably Abenaki ) seganku , from Proto-Algonquian * šeka:kwa , from * šek- 'to urinate' + * -a:kw 'fox'. Skunk has historic use as an insult, attested from 1841. In 1634, a skunk was described in The Jesuit Relations : The other

2806-477: The most common fur color is black and white, some skunks are brown or grey and a few are cream-colored. All skunks are striped, even from birth. They may have a single thick stripe across the back and tail, two thinner stripes, or a series of white spots and broken stripes (in the case of the spotted skunk). Skunks are crepuscular and solitary animals when not breeding, though in the colder parts of their range , they may gather in communal dens for warmth. During

2867-609: The nose. Whatever is once polluted by it, is forever useless. Azara says the smell can be perceived at a league distance; more than once, when entering the harbour of Monte Video, the wind being offshore, we have perceived the odour onboard the Beagle . Certain it is, that every animal most willingly makes room for the Zorrillo . Skunks carry just enough for five or six successive sprays – about 15 cm  – and require up to ten days to produce another supply. Their bold black and white coloration makes their appearance memorable. It

2928-403: The present Tejon Ranch . 35°02′51″N 118°45′36″W  /  35.04742°N 118.75998°W  / 35.04742; -118.75998 Badger   Arctonyx   Meles   Mellivora   Melogale   Mydaus (Family Mephitidae )   Taxidea Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes

2989-414: The primary predators of the honeybee , relying on their thick fur to protect them from stings. The skunk scratches at the front of the beehive and eats the guard bees that come out to investigate. Mother skunks are known to teach this behavior to their young. Skunks are notorious for their anal scent glands, which they can use as a defensive weapon . They are similar to, though much more developed than,

3050-450: The purpose. The Chinese supply three grades of hair to domestic and foreign brush makers. Village cooperatives are also licensed by the national government to hunt and process badgers to avoid their becoming a crop nuisance in rural northern China. The European badger is also used as trim for some traditional Scottish clothing . The American badger is also used for paintbrushes and as trim for some Native American garments. Controlling

3111-465: The removal of skunk odor, including the pervasive idea that tomato juice will neutralize the odor. These household remedies are ineffective, and only appear to work due to olfactory fatigue . In 1993, The American chemist Paul Krebaum has developed a formula that chemically neutralizes skunk spray by changing the odor-causing thiols into odorless acids, which is endorsed by the Humane Society of

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3172-808: The rest of Europe as far north as southern Scandinavia . They live as far east as Japan , Korea and China . The Javan ferret-badger lives in Indonesia , and the Bornean ferret-badger lives in Malaysia . The honey badger is found in most of sub-Saharan Africa , the Arabian Desert , southern Levant , Turkmenistan , Pakistan and India . The behaviour of badgers differs by family, but all shelter underground, living in burrows called setts , which may be very extensive. Some are solitary, moving from home to home, while others are known to form clans called cetes. Cete size

3233-464: The scent glands allow them to spray with a high degree of accuracy, as far as 3 m (10 ft). The spray can also cause irritation and even temporary blindness, and is sufficiently powerful to be detected by a human nose up to 5.6 km (3.5 miles) downwind. Their chemical defense is effective, as illustrated by this extract from Charles Darwin 's 1839 book The Voyage of the Beagle : We saw also

3294-415: The spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Limited culling resumed in 1998 as part of a 10-year randomised trial cull, which was considered by John Krebs and others to show that culling was ineffective. Some groups called for a selective cull, whilst others favoured a programme of vaccination. Wales and Northern Ireland are currently (2013) conducting field trials of a badger vaccination programme. In 2012

3355-461: The stick in the badger's mouth, and drag the animal loaded with dirt away, almost in the fashion of a wagon. The moralizing component of bestiaries often took precedence over their function as natural history texts, and this description of badgers most likely reflects an allegorical exemplar rather than what everyday people in the Middle Ages might or might not have believed about how badgers behave in

3416-454: The tail of a Fox; it carries it curled back like that of a Squirrel. It is more white than black; and, at the first glance, you would say, especially when it walks, that it ought to be called Jupiter's little dog. But it is so stinking and casts so foul an odor, that it is unworthy of being called the dog of Pluto. No sewer ever smelled so bad. I would not have believed it if I had not smelled it myself. Your heart almost fails you when you approach

3477-562: The title of Badger Lord or Badger Mother. A badger character is featured in The Immortals (1992–1996) by Tamora Pierce and "The Badger" is a comic book hero created by Mike Baron . The badger is the emblem of the Hufflepuff house of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the J. K. Rowling 's Harry Potter book series (1997–2007), it is chosen as such because the badger

3538-442: The twisting movement possible for the jaws of most mammals . Badgers have rather short, wide bodies, with short legs for digging. They have elongated, weasel-like heads with small ears. Their tails vary in length depending on species; the stink badger has a very short tail, while the ferret-badger's tail can be 46–51 cm (18–20 in) long, depending on age. They have black faces with distinctive white markings, grey bodies with

3599-619: The wild. The 19th-century poem "The Badger" by John Clare describes a badger hunt and badger-baiting . The character Frances in Russell Hoban 's children's books, beginning with Bedtime for Frances (1948–1970), is depicted as a badger. Trufflehunter is a heroic badger in the Chronicles of Narnia book Prince Caspian (1951) by C. S. Lewis . Badger characters are featured in author Brian Jacques ' Redwall series (1986–2011), they are depicted as feared warriors most often falling under

3660-564: Was *þahsuz (cf. German Dachs , Dutch das , Norwegian svin toks ; Early Modern English dasse ), probably from the PIE root *tek'- "to construct," so the badger would have been named after its digging of setts (tunnels); the Germanic term *þahsuz became taxus or taxō , - ōnis in Latin glosses , replacing mēlēs (" marten " or "badger"), and from these words the common Romance terms for

3721-578: Was bred for this purpose. Badger-baiting was formerly a popular blood sport . Although badgers are normally quite docile, they fight fiercely when cornered. This led people to capture and box badgers and then wager on whether a dog could succeed in removing the badger from its refuge. In England, opposition from naturalists led to its ban under the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835 and the Protection of Badgers Act of 1992 made it an offence to kill, injure, or take

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