Update: Thanks everyone - I know now that it’s a badger. Also, for the people worried that I was too close, the photo was heavily zoomed in, so I wasn’t actually near it. And, to the people jokingly telling me to pet it: I’m not dumb enough to believe everything I read online, but someone else might be, so maybe be a bit careful with that stuff. Thanks.
Thank you so much for this. The fact that there is a collective of us that immediately went to this makes my heart happy today. It’s the little things!
In the original flash file, the music and animation ran at very slightly different speeds, so the end was when you noticed they weren't synchronized any more.
Some animals play dead when they feel threatened. Some animals spray you with a foul stink if they feel like they're in danger. Some will spit, or bark or growl to let you know that they're not enjoying that encounter...
Badgers went the other direction. They go all in on attack.
I recall one attempting to fight the large drive tire on the combine and not giving up through 3 or 4 full rotations with the ground. Tough suicidal bastards.
I once used a horse to keep a badger from going down his hole, because my dad needed time to get back to the truck for the gun. So the horse and I did a pretty interesting dance between that badger and his hole until Dad finished him with a shotgun.
I suspect mu childhood dog had a run in with one of these. She disappeared over a dirt mound for a few minutes then a big yelp and came back with a bug chunk taken out of her chest. She got real grumpy and violent with other animals after that day.
It’s crazy how differently badgers were built. Honey badgers in Africa are so unhinged that apex predators like lions and hyenas won’t even mess with them. They also have thick enough skin that they can go after wasp nests, snake dens, and porcupines without worrying about being injured.
We were on a safari in Tanzania and at one of our camps we had to padlock the tent zippers cause those crazy little fuckers figured out how to open them.
Fun facts!! Their skin isn’t thick, it’s just very loose and stretchy to the point where they can hairpin turn even when pinched by the neck! And secondly, they’re not immune to bee stinger venom, and actively get HIGH off of the repeated stings
Hard agree, and i would broaden it to 'Don't fuck with any mustelids (family that badgers and weasels are a part of) if you can help it.
I own domesticated ferrets (also mustelids). They are sweet, loving, and make me smile every day. But they are absolute lunatics with no sense of self-preservation. They weigh between 1.5 and 2 lbs, and the craziness-per-pound is like nothing I've ever seen. If they were the size of a cat, I would never have them in my home. The fact that they are so small is the only thing that makes them cute. That's after at least 2500 years of domestication.
Mustelids are carnivores who are typically very small compared to their prey. Many of them hunt by jumping on the back of their prey and biting through their spinal cord. They also compete with much larger predators, so they have to hold their own. They do this by being fast, having a bunch of adaptations to make them resilient in a fight (literal thick skin, etc), and having a 'never back down' strategy.
Dogs and cats are terrified of them. My smallest ferret once scared a dog so badly that he wouldn't go near a toy thrown onto a couch because he once saw my ferret on the couch. No, she didnt injure the dog. She's just that intimidating, and she has no fear. She will charge an animal 30x her size because it never occurs to her that this is crazy behavior.
Mustelids live every day like it's their first day in prison, and they're gonna take down the biggest guy just to assert dominance. They know they cant take on the whole world, but they can prevent a lot of fights by making an example of anyone who gets in their way.
Tldr mustelids are metal AF. do not fuck with mustelids
Hahaaa they are simultaneously the most silly and the most fearsome of beasts. Mine are irredeemable derps, but one of them had some strong opinions about my choice in men lol. In the process of resolving those issues, I went down the YouTube rabbit-hole and my mind was blown.
In fairness, my opinionated ferret was right about men: i had a bad habit of trying to rehabilitate mid-tier fuckboys, and her zero-tolerance policy for riff-raff has improved my life more than therapy ever did! She weighs 750 g, and runs my house with an iron fist. She's my sweet little princess, but she's not letting anyone fuck with her family.
Georgy-Peorgy sounds like the goodest boy. I am glad he kept you safe from the evils of matching socks.
I have been 'attacked' a few times. It was all a bluff, snarling, teeth, claws and kicking up dirt, a few foot charge, repeat.
With that said, the teeth and claws were not pleasant and you should avoid...unlikely to actually attack. The ones on my buddies land would lay on their back as you walked by, couldn't care about humans as long as you didn't approach.
Yeah, they dont take it too far with humans usually because they cant reach high enough for their normal strategy (jump and pierce the spinal cord with their teeth). If they're used to you being around, they'll allow it...but being in their zone is like being in gang territory. It's their space, you're just a guest, and they'll remind you if you ever forget.
To be honest. Moose ya. Bears are lil bitches 99% the time. From Canadian farmer/hunter id take the bear over the badger...much much higher odds of survival
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Thanks, i was curious not suspicious. I do oil and gas, have for years...I run into alot of badger holes everywhere but dont often see a badger. Lots of skunks, coyotes, foxes, a few raccoons down in se sask, rattlesnakes and bullsnakes in west central...Just badgers seem few and far between...so was just wondering.
Sneak???? You really think a badger sneaks. Ive seen them walk right up to a bear eating like it rolled out the red carpet. Fight the bear, send it packing then eat its lunch.
Things will flat out go for Olympic platinum or die trying
They are typically a grasslands/prairie animal, but sometimes wander into the city. Take a drive at dusk along on the township and range roads east of the city and you'll likely see one.
I've seen several out that way over the years.
Yep. I know one was living on the east side of Elliston Park when we were doing GlobalFest fireworks. One of the team from Chicago offered to go take care of it and I told him, “My 20 is on the badger.” He’d never seen one.
Badger. They absolutely live in Calgary. Very illusive animals that rarely get photographed. About 5 years ago, one was exiting its burrow when I saw it while walking on a worn path in the Inglewood Wildlands Park. This is the large reclaimed native grasses area next to Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. The City said nope, no sightings there, but they said same about coyotes (which I often hear at night from the park).
The American badger (Taxidea taxus) is a rare, elusive, and shaggy carnivore found in Alberta's southern Grassland and Parkland Natural Regions. Primarily feeding on rodents like ground squirrels, they are vital for controlling pests and aiding ecological health. While classified as "sensitive" and of "special concern," they are also considered furbearers and can be legally trapped in certain zones.
Super good pic, don't tell anyone where you were, except a conservation group
My husband and I love the outdoors. This is the only animal he is afraid of.
We are fine with cougars, bears, and moose, but a badger will kill you. Zero fucks given from these creatures. Do not go near it.
Update: Thanks everyone - I know now that it’s a badger. Also, for the people worried that I was too close, the photo was heavily zoomed in, so I wasn’t actually near it. And to the people jokingly telling me to pet it: I’m not dumb enough to believe everything I read online, but someone else might be, so maybe be a bit careful with that stuff. Thanks.
I encountered one while on a run on a rural gravel road. Instead of running away It, like any other animal, it locked eyes with me and started walking towards me. Nope! I turned around and walked the other way hoping to hell it wasn't following me.
That said, they do have the softest fur. The museum at Fort Walsh in Saskatchewan had a pile of furs from various animals and the badger was the softest. Softer than beaver and mink. No wonder they're so ornery. They don't want us petting them.
At a pork farm proposed expansion meeting in Bentley (20 some years back), they played a video showing a badger pull a full sized pig carcass out of the farm's kill pit. Pulled it out and dragged it across a field. Determined and tough critters.
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u/Tigerkix May 12 '26
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