Breeding

Cubs are normally born in February, and the average number in a litter is three, although the range can be from one to five. However, a small number of badger cubs die underground before their eyes open and they become mobile enough to come above ground.

Females are able to mate at any time after the cubs are born, but the fertilised egg does not implant in the uterus until December. This process, known as "delayed implantation", ensures that cubs are born early in the year and are weaned when food is becoming most abundant. The delayed process also means that pregnancies rarely proceed in a female badger which is in too poor a condition to carry healthy cubs.

Cubs emerge from the safety of their underground nursery chambers after 8 to 10 weeks, and will begin to explore the sett area from May. They tend to be nervous for the first few days and remain near their home sett. However, they soon explore further afield with their mother after a few weeks.

Cubs live off their mothers milk for the first few weeks, but soon learn how to find solid food to eat when they leave the sett.

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Bread and Cream?

"I had some cream that had passed its sell-by date. I layered it up in an old enamel dish with some sliced bread and peanuts and left it out for the badgers. It was a frosty night and when the badgers came they seemed to be having trouble getting the meal, now frozen, out of the dish. I was annoyed to see them pick up the whole dish and take it away. A few weeks later I was bemoaning the loss of the dish to a local farmer, who offered me one which had been found in their fields not far from a badger sett. It was my missing dish - the badgers had carried it for over half a mile, presumably in order to enjoy the unusual "ice-cream" at their leisure!"