food and winter sleep
Omnivorous
When the soil is drenched, worms come up to the surface and are easy prey. The badger is omnivorous, eating everything in sight – insects, snails and slugs, frogs and toads, snakes and lizards, etc. Berries, fruit and the farmer's oats are equally appetizing. But earthworms are the most important source of food.
Worms and farmland
The size of the badger's range is determined largely by the availability of worms. Broad-leaved forest, cropland, pastures and other elements of the cultural landscape are especially appreciated, both by worms and badgers.
Researchers have reckoned that one hectare of grazing land (2.5 acres) may contain around one metric ton of earthworms.
Winter sleep
The badger's diet is such that not much food is available during the winter. It therefore hibernates in its sett, sleeping the problem away. The badger survives on stored body fat, and its temperature sinks to 4-9° C. When it awakes the following spring, it has lost about one-third of its body weight.
