Institutions of higher learning:
The University of Minnesota field Guide to the Prairie. Their badger is shown in its most natural state: having a snack! Otherwise very sparse.
The Natural Science Research Laboratory, a division of the Museum of Texas Tech University. I've gotta ask: are the badgers bigger in Texas? This is a good site, if'n yer a Texan, because there is a quite-detailed population distribution map.
The Burke Museum of the University of Washington. Very sparse badger entry, but it does have a population distribution map of North America. (What? Texas wasn't enough?)
From the Illinois State Academy of Science, a detailed study on the distribution of badgers in Illinois. (In .PDF format.)
The University of Kansas' Mammals list. No Java or Flash here. Very straightforward text and graphics. The reason I included this page is because the photo is of a different sub-species of badger.
The University of New Mexico's Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research Program exists to better understand Biome Transition Zone structure. Better understand it? Well, I'm certain I couldn't understand it any worse. Adequate badger page, but I think their photo was taken at the Henry Vilas Park Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin.
Southern Oregon University Library's FAQ on the North American Badger. A bit dry, but essentially accurate (despite the fact that is says nothing about our penchant for Dolly Madison products).
The University of Michigan Museum of Zoology's Animal Diversity Web. The Animal Diversity Web is a collection of pictures and information about animals. This would be an otherwise dry and unspectacular page except that, in addition to the North American badger, they have a Burmese Ferret Badger, an Indonesian Stink Badger, an African Honey Badger, and our friend, the Eurasian Badger. (Alas, no pictures.) All those badgers in one place just can't be safe!
Colorado State University's "Sights and Sounds of the Prairie". A bit Spartan, but included here because the have a recording of badgers. (Maybe you've noticed a theme here?) Badger sounds are particularly hard to come by. After all, they're probably the last sound a naturalist with a tape recorder hears. The very last.
Never let it be said that I'm not thorough. Since 1946, they've only spotted four badgers in Pennsylvania, but we've got a map for you. Thanks to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History for the Mammals of Pennsylvania site.
Official government sites:
The State of Wisconsin. An index of the departments and services available in the human bureaucracy that governs the "Badger State." A rather testy note about that moniker: Wisconsin is called the Badger State because of the early mining industry, and Scottish immigrants probably had Meles Meles in mind to boot! (British badgers dig labyrinthine setts, more closely resembling the many tunnels of a lead mine.) The much-misunderstood badger gets no better press in Wisconsin for being its mascot. Caricatures of "Bucky" abound, but there isn't a plush badger to be found in the state. (Do I resent this? Nooooo.) At least there's a pretty good article from Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine.
Wistravel dot com. You'll find a better article here on how the badger became the state animal. Along with a description of the state flower, fossil, soil, etc.. (Yes, they have a state soil.)
The Northern Prarie Science Center, part of the U.S. Geological Survey. (The human experts on rocks.) This site emphasizes topics and data pertinent to the North American Great Plains. Their badger page is nothing to write home about, but the photo of a radio-collared badger is amazing. Can you imagine the poor devil who had to "bell" a badger? Darned shame the badger probably scraped it off on a rock three minutes later.
This is an article from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. (The human experts on dirt.) They will tell you why badgers are important. Well, why all burrowing animals are important, anyway.
Now its the Forestry service's badger information. (The human experts on trees.) There's more information here than appears at first glance, but absolutely no pictures.
And, finally, the U.S. Department of transportation, Federal Highway Administration. (The human experts on roadkill.) Their "Critter Crossings" purports to link habitats and reduce roadkill. They've certainly got our vote. A badger may be able to face down a bear, but he's still vulnerable to a set of Double-Eagles.
California Department of Fish and Game Bay-Delta and Special Water Projects Division. Try and fit that on a business card! Despite the lengthy title, and conservative look of their Web site, they're aces in my book. According to them, badgers are a "Species of Special Concern". What a bunch of great guys.
Other educational sites:
This is apparently our competitor. Until the latest refurbishment here, we didn't know we had a competitor. (Badgers do live underground, after all.) We welcome to the Web the second (of only two) sites dedicated to the North American badger. We're sure we'll get along fine. After all, badgers are very friendly and neighborly, right? Who's got the better site? Only you can say. By the way, have you been going to the gym? You look fabulous.
Steve Jackson's Brockwatch Badger Pages. The pick of the litter. This is the best Meles page I've yet to find on the Web. An outstanding page, it is well organized, professionally designed, and meticulously informative. Steve, you need to get out more and start meeting people.
The Other Badger Page. This site (www.badger.org) is where all my friends keep ending up when they type my URL wrong. I've got to account for at least half the hits on his counter. This is the storefront for a Web design firm. The home page is animated. Really animated. Much as a six-year-old is animated after four bowls of "Chocolate Frosted Sugar Blams". Sheesh! Did I mention their home page is animated?
O.K., this is a weird one. "De Loy Roberts' Animal Skull Collection." I feel obliged to include a link to a badger skull, but I'm certainly not going to put any thought into Mr. Roberts' motivation for maintaining this collection. Let sleeping badgers lie. Or rather, in this case, rest in peace.
Instead of just some guy with a collection of skulls, it's the National Science Foundation Digital Library at the University of Texas at Austin. And instead of a photo of a lacquered skull, it's X-Ray CT scans, complete with 3-D quicktime "slice movies". Nope, it's still weird.
Comparative Mammalian Brain Collections. As long as we're looking at bare naked badger noggins, we might as well pop the hood and take a look inside. That's right, there's actually a site with badger brains! Put down your lunch before following these links. (Note that the planet-sized portion of a badger's brain which extends into hyperspace is not shown.)
The BBC's 24-hour badger-cam. Go here to see British badgers frolicking. Best chance for seeing actual frolicking is at dawn and dusk, Greenwich Mean Time, or immediately after English World Cup victories. ;)
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Organizations, Clubs, and Societies.
The California Living Museum. CALM is a zoo, botanical garden, and natural history museum. CALM keeps many animals which can not be returned to the wild for one reason or another. I strongly suggest you visit their site, and perhaps adopt an animal of your very own. What kind of animal? Oh, I'm sure any of the animals at CALM would benefit from your donation...THE BADGER! ALRIGHT? ADOPT THEIR BADGER! (Tell 'em Bucky sent ya.)
Singing Feather. An excellent First American web page. The nation of the author is Cherokee I believe, but many nations are represented. According to this story, the badger is the first animal to enter Heaven. We're not sure how we feel about his honor.
The home page of your gracious host. There's nothing about badgers here. There's no clue here which would suggest what drove him on this mad quest to bring badgers to the Internet. In fact, there's nothing to see here at all. Keep it moving, keep it moving.
alt.animals.badgers. Our own little newsgroup. Sparsely populated, but makes up in quality what it lacks in quantity. Like all newsgroups, there's lots of Spam. The joke's on them: badgers love Spam! Only an omnivore could.
