Bloom

Quilla

Boone and Crockett

Badger

Porcupine

Raccoon

Taxidea taxus

 Erithizon dorsatum

Dens and burrows are a very important part of the badger's life. A badgers usually has lots of different dens and burrows. It uses them for sleeping, hunting, storing food and giving birth. A badger may change dens every day, except when it has babies.  Badger dens have one entrance with a pile of dirt next to it. When a badger is threatened, it will often back into a burrow and bare its teeth and claws. It may then plug up the burrow's entrance.

Small burrowing mammals like ground squirrel, rats, gophers and mice make up most of the badger's diet. It digs its prey out of the ground with its strong, sharp claws. The badger will sometimes dig into the burrow of an animal and wait for it to return. Coyotes often will stand by while a badger is burrowing and catch animals that come out of a tunnel trying to escape the badger. The badger also eats snakes, birds and reptiles. It will sometimes bury extra food to eat later.

 Genus Species:  Erithizon dorsatum

Quilla came to us from Alberta. She was born in captivity and is just under  two years old. It is remarkable to see her actually being handled by our zookeepers.

Porcupines are rodents. They have black to brownish-yellow fur and strong, short legs. Their airless soles on their feet  help them to climb trees. They ahve a round body, small ears and a small head. The most recognizable feature of the porcupine is its quills. A porcupine may have as many as 30,000 quills. The quills are hairs with barbed tips on the ends. Quills are solid at the tip and base and hollow for most of the shaft. The porcupine has quills on all parts of its body, except for its stomach. The longest quills are on its rump. The shortest quills are on its cheeks.

The porcupine uses its quills for defense but unlike popular belief, cannot shoot its quills. When a predator approaches, the porcupine will turn its back, raise the quills and lash out at the threat with its tail. If the porcupine hits an animal with its quills, the quills become embedded in the animal. Body heat makes the barbs expand and they become even more deeply embedded in the animal's skin. If an animal is hit in a vital place it may die. The porcupine is not an aggressive animal. It will only attack if it is threatened. Some animals, like the fisher, are experts at attacking porcupines.

The porcupine is a solitary animal, although it may den with others in the winter. Porcupines don't hibernate, but may stay in a den such as a hollow log or cave during bad weather. They are good swimmers and the hollow quills help to keep it afloat. They are also excellent climbers and spend much of their time in trees. Porcupines are very vocal and have a variety of calls from grunts, to whines to tooth clicking.

Raccoons have gray to brown fur. Each raccoon has a black mask around its eyes with white fur around the mask. It has a stripe that runs from its forehead to its nose and white fur around its nose. It has a bushy, ringed tail and black paws with five toes. The raccoon's paws look a little like human hands. The raccoon's toes are flexible and it is very good at grabbing, pulling things apart and holding things. The raccoon is a  very good climber and can go down a tree backwards or face first!

 Kelly Funk photo

The raccoon is omnivorous and opportunistic. Common foods include fruits, nuts berries, insects, rodents, frogs, eggs and crayfish. In some rural areas, corn is a large part of the raccoon's diet. In suburban and urban areas it often forages through trash cans for food. If water is near, the raccoon will sometimes put its food in the water and roll it around. It looks like it is washing its food, but it is not. The raccoon is softening the food and looking for foreign objects.