badgers

[einsteinsdog]

Are badgers found anywhere else in world?

[Clanad]

Sure... they are fairly common here in the western U.S. Their dens raise heck with the livestock range...

[gen2]

Also found in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

According to the BBC website , Eurasian Badgers range from Europe to Japan and S. China.

[einsteinsdog]

Are they treated as vermin ? Over here farmers hate them , but most people seem to like them, but they are hard to spot, being nocturnal

[littleoldme]

Clanad will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe in the U.S. they tend to have honey badgers, like so:

http://www.namibian.org/travel/wildlife/honey_badger.htm l

rather than our dear old European stripy-faced brock:

http://www.badger.it/induk.asp

Any excuse to put up a photo of a badger, that's me :-)

[Clanad]

Actually, littleoldme, though a different species name (Taxidea taxus) for the the North American version, they look very similar to your British badger. See here:

http://www.badgers.org.uk/badgerpages/american-badger-photo-01.html

The Honey Badger, (Mellivora capensis) is actually more of an African variety as seen here:

http://www.honeybadger.com/

Fascinating animals... here in the western U.S. I've found one on hard packed clay earth and watched as it dug into the earth for a den in a matter of minutes. They are relatives to our greatly respected and feared Wolverines... seen here: http://www.nwf.org/yellowstone/index.cfm?photo=5