B-1004

Managing Badger Damage

By Rich Olson and Ron Swearingen

Department of Renewable Resources

November 1994

            American badgers can be an asset or a liability depending on their compatibility with human interests and activities in a particular situation. The holes they dig are hazardous to livestock and people, and in agricultural areas, digging can result in economic losses due to crop and machinery damage. However, badgers also provide beneficial effects by preying on rodents that may cause cropland and rangeland damage.

            Managing Badger Damage describes the general biology of Taxidea taxus in Wyoming, and it provides suggestions for managing badger damage where problems occur.