"Does a falling tree in the forest make a sound when there is no one to hear?"
Which says something about the nature of philosophers, because there is always someone in a forest. It may only be a badger, wondering what that cracking noise was, or a squirrel a bit puzzled by all the scenery going upwards, but someone. At the very least, if it was deep enough in the forest, millions of small gods would have heard it.
Things just happen, one after another. They don't care who knows. But history...ah, history is different. History has to be observed. Otherwise it's not history. It's just...well, things happening one after another.
Badgers cause year-long shutdown of railway line in North Rhine-Westphalia
In November 2022, first signs of instability on the railway embankment between Unna and Fröndenberg appeared. Subsequent safety inspections revealed that badgers had dug an extensive network of tunnels several meters underneath the tracks. At least 140 entrances to the badger burrows have been found so far, stretching over a length of 11 km (approx. 7 miles).
Meanwhile, the embankment has deemed to be too unstable to continue train operations due to the activity of the animals. The damage is too extensive to be repaired, so the embankment has to be rebuilt from the scratch. Railway company Deutsche Bahn estimates that planning of the construction works and obtaining the necessary approvals by the authorities will take several years before the actual construction works can begin.
Diet- Insects; Small mammals; Fruits; Roots; Worms
Cool Facts- Despite appearances, the greater hog nosed badger is the second largest mustelid and not a pig. Eating practically anything, these badgers spend their days wandering through thick forests and grassland. The greater hog badger uses their sensitive snout to dig through leaf litter in search of delicacies. They are relatively unafraid of people and are often seen waltzing past camera traps without a care in the world. In as few as 15 years, their population has been halved due to illegal poaching and snaring. Conservationists are rushing to put an end to snaring and encourage captive breeding programs.
Tbf, if there's any type of badger that I'd expect to form groups and attack a settlement of cats, I would think it'd be the American badger over the European badger.
Nonny this is falsehood. This is entirely based on how European badgers are cuter looking but not at all on the actual differences in behavior between the two
European badgers are social, with some pups spending their entire lives with their mothers. Males will typically disperse.
They also often forage in groups, with social units between 6 - 25 individuals
Are notoriously aggressive when defending their groups and setts, which was even exploited historically for bloodsport such as badger baiting
Are more omnivorous, which ACTUALLY means they're MORE aggressive because they don't have to worry about an injury preventing them from being able to hunt
American badgers aren't closely related and are actually more primitive
Much less social, offspring quickly disperse after reaching adulthood
Sometimes seen hunting alongside coyotes, to combine their unique hunting abilities
Looks are deceiving, but I am an AMERICAN badger so I forgive you because I am much nicer and we should go out for prarie dogs later. European badgers are actually the ones that will shank you.
Since it's apparently the 20th anniversary of the flash cartoon "Badgers", here's an actual childhood photo taken with a film camera of me watching it with my sister almost 2 decades ago...