Who in our museum has a toothy grin like this?

Did you know what last week’s object of the week was?

European Badger (Meles meles)

 The photo last week was of the claws of our European Badger (Meles meles). Badger claws are very strong – they have to be to dig out their large underground burrows called ‘setts’.

Badgers keep their sets very clean, never eating inside them and regularly changing their bedding materials. They even dig a communal toilet some distance away from the sett.

The jaws of a Badger are connected in such a way that it is almost possible to dislocate them, which means they can keep a strong hold of anything they bite. The trade off is that this limits the range of movement of their lower jaw.

Badgers and their setts are protected in the UK under the Badger Protection Act 1992.

The government has just approved a pilot Badger cull in Somerset and Gloucestershire. To read more about it click here.