American Badger
Where did that gopher go?
This badger was digging at both ends of a gopher tunnel. While he was digging at one end, the gopher escaped from the other end. The badger didn’t see it, but somehow sensed it had left and did a little circle around the diggings and picked up the scent and got the gopher. I was impressed.
It reminded me of a badger in Yellowstone at the picnic area near Yellowstone Bridge that entered a fox den and spent a day or two eating the food cache the fox parents had created. When the badger entered the den, the fox kits escaped from a back entrance. After a day or so eating the food cache, the badger left the den. When it left it began smelling the ground, picked up a scent trail, and made a bee line to the entrance of a nearby second den where the fox kits had gone. It entered that second den, which we later learned didn’t have a second entrance/exit. Unfortunately, the kits were trapped. The badger spent the next day or two in that den and killed and ate all the kits. It was a sad tale that unfolded over several days to a lot of photographers and viewers. When I witness something like this I have to remind myself that this is an example of the balance of nature. It’s worked very well until we humans came along. Unfortunately, we’re making a mess of it.
