Serious conflict between some of the largest and smallest of the mustelids.
Occasionally I rerun a favorite older post because it’s likely that few current blog followers have seen it. This one was published seven years ago. For this version I’ve edited and added to the text and cleaned up some of the formatting.
In May of 2014 I witnessed a tense drama involving a badger and Long-tailed Weasels on Antelope Island. American Badgers feed primarily on rodents (ground squirrels, pocket gophers, rats, mice and voles) which they often capture by digging out their burrows. The digging prowess of badgers is legendary.
But on this day the main course on the menu for this badger was Long-tailed Weasels. Badgers and weasels are close relatives as both are mustelids in order Carnivora.
As usual I was looking primarily for birds to photograph but I found this badger near a burrow that was apparently new as I hadn’t seen it before. As soon as I looked at ‘him’ through my lens I could tell he had prey, which at first I assumed to be some kind of rodent.
But with a slightly clearer view I could tell from the color and elongated body that it was actually another carnivore, a Long-tailed Weasel.
The badger came up on the dirt mound of the burrow…
and then turned in the side light to give me my best look at the weasel. At this point he disappeared down the burrow and since I wasn’t close and the light angle was bad…
I decided to move a little closer to improve my lighting angle and see if the badger re-emerged. To my surprise he did, this time sans weasel..
He paid very little attention to me because he was focused on something else in the nearby grasses. After a few minutes he once again disappeared down the burrow so eventually I left the area to look for birds.
An hour and a half later I returned to the area and once again found the badger outside and away from the burrow, which surprised me. This view gives us a good look at the ventrally flattened body that badgers are known for.
And then he returned to the entrance hole once again. Here we can see that there were actually two burrow entrances – both fresh but the darker one at the rear with more moist dirt was the most recently dug.
I believe these “badger holes” to actually be burrows of prey that had been dug out by the badger is he hunted, which is typical badger behavior. If either burrow had been the home den of the badger the dirt likely wouldn’t have been so freshly dug and the vicinity of the dirt mounds would have been scattered with prey remnants (bones and fur) and droppings.
Then suddenly another actor in the drama appeared in the grasses near the burrow.
Another Long-tailed Weasel and this one was very much alive and kicking. It appeared to have a spot of blood on its front right leg.
By this time the badger had disappeared down one of the burrow entrances and the gutsy little weasel came in close to investigate. I was floored by what happened next.
The second weasel actually went down the burrow (at lower left) that the badger had just entered. It disappeared down the dark confines of the burrow for a few seconds before…
re-emerging. And then the ballsy little carnivore did some serious exploring around both burrow entrances before…
scampering off into the nearby grasses where it kept poking its head up and disappearing again..
The badger came out once again and stared intently at the weasel as it popped in and out of the grasses. I tried to get a shot that included both critters but every time I clicked the shutter with my backed-off zoom the weasel was momentarily hidden in the grass. The weasel is in there somewhere…
At this point the weasel left the area (I could see it scampering down the road behind me) and soon the badger surprised me once again.
He emerged from the darker, newer entrance with another weasel in his jaws.
I suspect it was actually the original weasel that the badger carried down the burrow earlier in the morning, more than a little worse for wear and covered with dirt. He took the weasel down the front entrance hole and disappeared. I waited for a while to see if anything else developed but nothing did so eventually I left the area.
I can’t help but speculate about what had really been going on. Weasels den in the abandoned burrows of other small mammals and it’s my guess that these two burrows had been excavated by the badger to get at prey but this time the prey turned out to be weasels rather than rodents. Perhaps the dead weasel was the mate of the living one and the survivor was as brazen as it was because of the loss of its partner and possibly their offspring. But all that is pure speculation on my part…
In the following days I went back to the burrow several times but never found the badger again.
Ron
Excellent! Badgers are my all-time favorite subjects. This is an amazing sequence.
Thank you, Gary.
Ron, one of the greatest inter-action sequences I have ever seen and you nailed it! Way to go!!
Thank you, Ernest. Much appreciated.
Book of the Month Club Feature: Murder Amongst the Redstem Filaree.
Sorry, I’m in a morose mood today. Even though I know the badger has to eat (and they’re such interesting critters), I can’t help feeling sorry for the little weasel who has lost its mate — and possibly its children.
In spite of my anthropomorphizing, I am once again awed by your photography and prose.
I like your suggested title, Marty. Thank you.
Wow! I have not seen these, they are fantastic. What a marvelous find and drama to witness.
Thank you, April.
I was lucky enough to see a badger in the wild once. Remarkable creatures!
Remarkable and unique.
What an outstanding series!! I loved the photos and the excellent story-line narrative. Thanks for sharing this series again! I hadn’t seen it before and was delighted to view & read the story.
Thank you, Steve.
What a fascinating encounter (though without doubt the weasel would use a different word). Thank you.
Without a doubt! Thanks, EC.
I always stop at AI on my way to Yellowstone and never ran into either a Badger or Weasel, but I was never really looking for them either. This year I will pay more attention !! Thanks for the great photos and the education Ron !!
Gary, this was one of the very few times, maybe even the only time, I’ve seen a badger on the island. Although I do see what are obviously “badger holes” occasionally.
“Never really looking for a badger or weasel” That’s just WRONG! You should always be looking for badgers and weasels. If you get a series like Ron just did that’s as good as it gets!!!!
Wonderful story. I usually see badgers in passing (crossing the road, darting into a den), so it was very interesting to get a close-up. Thanks!
Thank you, Kathryn.
I have never seen that predation before. Thanks for sharing the series again.
You’re very welcome, Kent.
What a great series of photos and explanation! Yo do not see events like this everyday!
You sure don’t, Ken – this was the first and only time for me.
Photojournalism doesn’t come much better than this. I was totally enthralled. I couldn’t help but hear the half-whispered voice of David Attenborough while reading your narrative. It’s amazing the creatures you have documented on Antelope Island.
Much appreciated, Lyle. I’ll take any comparison to D. Attenborough, no matter how minor. Among many other things I love his voice.
WOW! I wouldn’t have imagined that scenario at all particularly between these 2! 😲 Weasels are gutsy if nothing but then so are Badgers…… Wonderful capture, Ron.
I was surprised too, Judy. Thanks.
Very entertaining play by play Ron! You are forgiven for not posting birds today (chuckle).
Kathleen, occasionally I leave the feathers out of Feathered Photography…
Excellent series and story, and of course excellent photos as always. I have never seen a badger in the wild. Our Prescott High School mascot is the Badger so I would assume we have them. I have watched nature documentaries about badgers and how tough they are, but have never seen one. I would think that in 15 years here and out a minimum of three days a week in nature I would have seen one somewhere.
Everett, they spend so much time underground they can be hard to find. I most often see them early in the morning.
This series brings to mind the picture that circulated over the last few years of the weasel or stoat that was ‘riding’ a big woodpecker in flight…
I think I remember that photo.
Very nice catch and documentation! Those badgers are some vicious creatures…course the weasels are no slouches either. That curious weasel was very lucky to live another day. PBS had interesting and entertaining show on the weasels and other members of the species last week.
I missed that PBS show, Kathy. But these days I usually watch PBS online so maybe it wasn’t available there.
Interesting!
Thanks.