Space Use and Habitat Selection of American Badgers (Taxidea Taxus) in Southwestern Wisconsin

Badger (Taxidea taxus) life history and ecology are poorly described despite widespread distribution in North America. We used radio-telemetry to estimate home range size and quantify habitat selection for badgers living in agricultural habitat in southwestern Wisconsin, U.S.A. Badgers in Wisconsin established relatively large home ranges (3 to 30km2), with those of males tending to be larger than females. Badgers selected broadly for nonforested grassland habitat in a matrix of agriculture, although fine-scale use varied substantially by individual. These patterns suggest that badgers tolerate levels of human alteration associated with agriculture in Wisconsin, although there may be limits to that tolerance.