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Last year we did get a badger that mysteriously wandered into our local post office. Were
not sure where it came from or why it was there. That was the first individual ever
reported in Milwaukee County so they have been reported in every county now in Wisconsin.
We are engaged in the study mostly because badgers in Wisconsin are currently protected
but not in a conservation sense. Theyre considered a species with information needs and thats
unsatisfactory to say the least. What it means is we just dont have enough information to
make an informed, objective decision about whether badgers are better managed in a conservation
setting or whether theyre better managed as a game species.
Badgers, as you know, are very elusive. Theyre nocturnal, they live under ground, theyre
solitary most of the time, and they have a notoriously unpleasant disposition. They are
very difficult to study by hands-on methods, more traditional wildlife approaches so what
were doing is using genetic tools.
I hope to get something like a tissue sample from a road kill or a hair sample from a live
animal off of a burrow. These are what we call our badger hair snares or hair collectors
that we insert into our badger burrows when were trying to collect hair. Basically these
attach to the top of the burrow with these nails going into the ground. Then this side
is where the badger will actually rub against it which basically brushes the animal pulling
some hairs out hopefully about 10 to 20 with intact roots on them which is where we get
our DNA. Badgers often move from day to day so theyre essentially a moving target. If
I get an active burrow on Tuesday, on Thursday it may not even be in use anymore and the
animal couldve moved up to 10 miles away in a day.
By looking more at connectivity between landscapes and populations within the state. Are there
any populations that are kind of isolated out there? Are they able to connect with other
badgers? Also, genetic variation is important for maintaining viability over the long term
for the species.
Its been a very citizen-science based project. People in Wisconsin love badgers and that
has suited us very well for just this kind of study.