Qianjiangyuan National Park in Zhejiang Province is the birthplace of the Qiantang River, with a large area of primeval forest, a quiet valley and clear water flow. As soon as spring comes, the rare wild animals in the forest begin to come alive, the black chamois runs and jumps in the forest, and the white-necked long-tailed pheasant forages happily, lurks for a winter badger, and also ends hibernation, running out of the cave to feed and replenish energy.
The pig badger is a ferret with a thick shape, a large head and a thick neck, and a nose that resembles a miniature version of the pig's nose. The limbs are short, but they have well-developed and powerful claws for digging and defending. Its body color is mainly black and white, with a white vertical stripe in the middle of the forehead that extends to the nose, and black stripes on both sides of the face, which are very similar to badgers.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" >01 The pig badger ended hibernating out of the hole and arched its nose to open the fallen leaves to feed</h1>
The badger spent the cold winter in the cave, its cave is very spacious, and it is covered with hay, and it is comfortable to sleep. For safety, the cave has two exits, and when spring comes, badgers run out of the cave cheerfully.
In the spring woods, there is a lot of good food, and the badger forages as they walk. Although its vision is not very good, its sense of smell is very sensitive, and it can catch the taste of food with a sniff of the nose.
The pig badger is not picky eater, and in the leaf heap under the forest, arches its nose to open the fallen leaves, dig up the soil, and look for insects, earthworms, crustaceans and other foods.
In terms of eating, it is not very particular, insects, rodents, as well as frogs, birds, etc., it can eat well, and it will also eat the roots and leaves of plants.
Where the badger walked, the fallen leaves were turned over, leaving a small "trench" that it arched out with its nose. Not to mention, although the pig badger is a different species from the wild boar, it has a "pig nose" and makes a sound like a pig's roar, and even the way of foraging is similar.
It didn't take long for the badger to fill its stomach and lie comfortably in the sun in the deciduous heap. The badger did not want to go back to the cave yet, so he wandered around the forest, sniffing his nose from time to time to identify the surrounding environment.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" >02 sow badger makes 3 round trips and moves with 3 cubs</h1>
The life of a badger is simple, going out to forage for food and going home to fix the burrow. Although the badger is not picky in terms of eating, it has a cleanliness habit for its own dwelling, and the cave must be kept clean and tidy.
At the same time, it has another big thing, that is, to prepare for the birth of the litter. According to the Beijing Window of Science Popularization Network, the gestation period of the pig badger is as long as 10 months, and this sow badger was mated and pregnant last spring, and will give birth to a litter this spring. The badgers first replaced the hay in the cave to make their "bedroom" more comfortable.
The badger ran into the forest, gathered the dead leaves on the ground into his arms with his front paws, and gathered a bunch of dead leaves in his arms, and quickly collected enough. I saw its forelimbs folded, "holding" the dead leaves and walking backwards, all the way back to the cave.
The sow badger gave birth to 3 cubs, the cubs with their eyes closed, pink and tender, cute and well-behaved. In addition to going out to forage, the sow badger waits by the cubs at all times to feed them.
Not long after, the sow badger seemed to think that the cave was not safe and comfortable enough, so on the sunny slope, found a hidden place, dug a cave up to 1 meter deep, and dug out two passages and two openings respectively, so that they could escape in case of danger. Then, using the old method, not far from the mouth of the cave, collect dead leaves and lay the groundwork in the cave.
On a sunny day, the pig badger grabbed the newborn cub and ran quickly across the hillside to the "new home" cave to settle the cubs.
3 round trips, each bringing the 3 cubs to the new cave. The cub did not understand, did not adapt to the unfamiliar environment, and squeezed towards the mother beast one by one.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" >03 Bumping into people will not run away, raising their front paws and shouting at people</h1>
The badger spends most of the day in the cave, living in seclusion and rarely encountering predators. However, the pig badger is not an animal that only escapes when it encounters danger, especially during the feeding of young.
As the cubs grow up, the sow badger takes them out for activities and leads by example, teaching the cubs how to forage and how to discern food through their sense of smell. Mischievous badgers are curious about the forest, wandering around and fighting with each other from time to time.
Worse, suddenly someone came from the forest, and the sow badger was alert, but instead of immediately running away with the cubs, she raised her front paws in a defensive posture and made a low roar, shouting at people, sounding like a pig's bark. However, the sow badger did not dare to easily come forward, confronting and shouting at people.
The person who came was a local villager, who did not expect to bump into a badger and looked at it curiously for a while. Seeing that the little guy was very fierce, he did not come close, and quickly left.
The sow badger thought it was dangerous, but it turned out to be a false alarm! Hurry up and call the 3 cubs home and burrow into the deep cave, which is the safest.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" > science trivia</h1>
Pig badgers and badgers look very similar, similar faces, similar fur, and even have many similar habits, and if you don't look closely, you really can't tell who is who.
To distinguish between badgers and badgers, the most obvious difference is their noses, the nose of the badger is flesh pink, shaped like a pig's nose; the badger's nose is black, shaped like a dog's nose. Secondly, you can look at their necks, the bottom of the badger's neck is white, while the badger's under the neck is black.
Xuelinggu Nature Lab/Production
References: Beijing Window of Science Popularization Network, China Wildlife Conservation Association, CCTV, Zhejiang Forestry Network