The European badger (Meles meles) ,is a mammal of the family Mustelidae.
In Italy it is present at the whole peninsula. In the province of Salerno it was found in the Regional Park of Monti Lattari, L’Oasi natural del Monte Polveracchio, l’Oasi di Persano and the WWF Monte Acellica.
This mammal lives in forest areas, but it may also attend the open zones if it is provided with some sort of vegetation that allows it to find adequate shelter.
It has the look of a basset hound, with a massive body and a well-developed muscles, has a pointy snout and a band of white that reaches from the snout to the belly. The paw print is characteristic it is a large central pad sign with four rounded aligned (sign of the fingertips) often surmounted by the trace of the nails.
Its main activity is the construction of burrows. It is a nocturnal animal that can remain active, without returning to the den, throughout a night. During the winter it does not fall into hibernation but the activity is significantly reduced. In case of severe drop in temperature or weather conditions particularly unfavorable, it may spend several weeks in the den; for this purpose in the autumn the animals carry dried herbs and mosses to stuff the locals where they spend long periods of winter rest.
Sexual maturity is reached at around 18-24 months of age, the mating period occurs in April-August. After a gestation period of about 7-8 months the little badgers are born in the den. They are about 4 or 5 small badgers that remain blind for 28-35 days and with their mother for another 3-4 months. The average life expectancy is around 15 years.
The animal uses, such as shelter, natural caves, crevices in rocks or holes that it digs itself. It digs deep and intricate burrows in the ground of the forest. Dens, with typically two to three openings, have within them many small rooms, which are enlarged gradually by successive generations of rates that live there. In a single hole it can live multiple numbers of badgers, interestingly, sometimes a part of the burrow occupied by the badger is also used by the fox.
It feeds at night and is an omnivorous animal: in particular it eats soft roots but it do not hesitate to break into chicken coops and rabbit hutches.
It is an animal that has suffered a lot from the effects of human presence, which has considerably reduced the spread.
And because of this and its ecological importance it is protected by the Bern Convention.
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Notes
Spagnesi M., De Marinis A.M. (a cura di), Mammiferi d'Italia – Quad. Cons.Natura n.14 , Ministero dell'Ambiente - Istituto Nazionale Fauna Selvatica, 2002.