Talk:Badger
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[edit] Badger vs Longhorn Cattle
Would a badger beat a longhorn cattle in a fight?
I think the cattle would trample the badger. But badgers ARE very fierce and they can defeat dogs much bigger than them. Dora Nichov 11:52, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Flash Movie
Do we need the link to the flash movie on this page? We already have Badger Badger Badger which explains about it. Kirk 11:26, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)
BADGERS ARE COOL LOVE YALL JENNIFER ANN ( JIFNERER)I suggest compromise: a link to the disambiguation page at the top of the article. --Damian Yerrick 04:38, 6 May 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Taxidea taxus
Why is there only a section on the american badger? Fair enough it is a subfamily but what about all the others? It should either be an article by itself or all the other badgers/families should have a section.
Good idea.61.230.79.242 04:11, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
I've replaced this section. GameCreator 21:30, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] badgers and TB
Suggest needs a paragraph on possible (and controversial) involvement of badgers in the spread of bovine tuberculosis. There are current UK government trials of culling in certain areas. Some info on the pages linked at end of article. --RupertB 19:38, 6 May 2004 (UTC)
[edit] badger - the verb
Is there not an expression like 'To badger somebody about something" in the meaning of "to repeatedly and insistently ask or query somebody"?
Yes, but nothing to do with this if you please, 'cept it's like a big fierce badger.61.230.79.242 04:11, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Badger, or Tanuki?
Do "shapeshifting badgers" really feature in Japanese folklore, or is this confusion with the raccoon dog? The Japanese word for it, "tanuki", is often mis-translated as badger.
- seconded: this should be omitted, IMO. -- JRice 16:15, 2005 Jun 3 (UTC)
In the Japanese cartoon Doraemon, raccoon dog is often mistranslated as fox or civet. Dora Nichov 11:49, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] The name "Brock"
Wouldn't the name "Brock" for a badger come from Beatrix Potter's story The Tale of Mr. Tod, which concerned a badger named Brock who kidnapped a bunch of baby rabbits with the intent of eating them? Potter's story was written in 1912; well before the 1948 date cited in the article.
It comes from the Irish and Scottish (ie Gaelic) word "broc" (pronounced "bruck") a point which I have now added to the article. --Qwayfe 16:27, 3 August 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Badgerphone
Does this place have the Badgerphone? I only saw the Badger Badger Badger link.
[edit] Redwall
There is a den or place at sorts located within the forest refered to Mossflower Woods called Brock Hall and it is located beneath where a Badger watches over its neighbors in the abbey nearby.
So?61.230.79.242 04:11, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Behaviour, Mating, Etc.
The article goes into great detail on what a badger is, but totally ignores the idea of what a badger does -- what kinds of prey animals it targets, when its mating seasons and what its gestation periods are, why it is described as gentle despite being a carnivore, etc.. Is there anyone knowledgeable who can update that? I'll peruse Google for the time being... ;-) --Jtgibson 13:36, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
- You might want to look at the related articles Eurasian badger, American badger and Ratel. I don't think that they are terribly clearly signposted from this article, or from the Badger (disambiguation) page. I'll try to do something about that shortly. Once those three articles are up to scratch, perhaps it would be worth doing something with this page, but I'm not sure what is best to do to improve it. Telsa 14:28, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
I've started a small section on Lifestyle and Diet. Hopefully someone else can better word it and flesh it out. GameCreator 21:31, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] The badger aphorisms section
I was about to remove this because there are no sources quoted for any of it, but as I wrote this justification, That Guy From That Show beat me to it. Before anyone reinserts it, here's why I think you shouldn't.
- Bishops. Can't find any mention of this on google other than on Wiki mirrors or obviously quoted direct from Wikipedia, and certainly no derivation. Can't find it in Brewer's, Shorter OED and a couple of other reference books.
- The verb (one sense of it, at least). In Wiktionary anyway and not needed here (and hardly an aphorism)
- Fifties bluegrass. Can't find mention of band, can't find mention of colloquial usage claimed, can't find any non-Wikipedia mirror result on Google. Other contributions of user seem to be exclusively involved with inserting this reference in Wikipedia elsewhere and messing about with alumni of a university.
Nothing personal about badgers: I just like references :) --Telsa (talk) 10:21, 21 February 2006 (UTC)
- For the little available proofs on Google (searching "badger a bishop" with quotes), I've removed the paragraph concerning the phrase "Don't call the badger a bishop" again, despite it appearing on the list of idioms in the English Language here on Wikipedia - that one used the same wording as the old Aphorisms section back in February. —Laogeodritt [ Talk | Contribs ] 04:41, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Ubuntu
I was wondering if it would be completely out of place to add that the very popular Ubuntu Linux distribution has a version called Breezy Badger. Somnoliento 02:39, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
- My personal feeling is that it would be a little unnecessary. There are dozens of distros who have had dozens of odd release names. We used to have Breezy Badger mentioned on the Badger (disambiguation) page, but it was removed -- by me :) -- because there wasn't anything much to link to: we don't have articles about each separate version. This article tends to acquire stuff about "in popular culture" and lists of books and Mr Badgers and so on much faster than it acquires any information about badgers themselves. Telsa (talk) 07:35, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] We should add Badger badger badger on again.
It is a significant pop cultural things featuring badgers. Maybe put it in the pop cultural sections.
[edit] Teastas Mor?
Is this really relevant? While related to badgers in some way, it seems rather out-of-place to me. There's also the issue of the second paragraph: A few Google searches shows nothing much that mentions this event save Wikipedia itself (and any mirrors thereof). If it is accurate, wouldn't it be better off in Badger-Baiting one section above? Laogeodritt 13:56, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Badger Name
Believe the etymology section should be cleaned up, and would suggest that the idea the name badger comes from the fce having a badge on it, is a little spurious.
I have seen other web pages which state the name badger is believed to come from the French word ‘becheur’, meaning digger.
129.35.81.16 13:08, 15 August 2006 (UTC)DT
[edit] Range?
I know nothing about badgers, and so wouldn't touch the article, but what I came looking for was the range of the different species of badgers. (Badgers are prominent figures in a book series I'm reading, and I was just curious as to which sort would be around.) Any chance of modifying the list of different types of badgers to give their geographical ranges? Miss w 15:45, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
North America and Eurasia. Honey badgers, which aren't true badgers, live in Africa. Dora Nichov 11:50, 3 September 2006 (UTC) Bold text
[edit] Vandilism - Horse picture
It's showing a picture of a horse. I have no idea how to change it, so someone might want to do that. 67.23.84.125 15:55, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
I fixed it.
[edit] Trivia section
I added this section and included a reference to Wisconsin. Maybe the literary and folklore references could go here also to separate it from the biology. WU03 02:10, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
What is this trivia about badgers killing people? This seems to me like vandalism.
- It's obviously vandalism. I personally dislike trivia sections. They become repositories for collections of facts which should be incorporated into the article proper. (And vandalism, seemingly.) Also, we don't really need to give every paragraph its own subheading. I have removed the claims about sharks and the "folklore" section: no-one ever produces a cite for any of it. I will look for the "symbol of fidelity" one because it's one I know myself, although I thought it was more about tenacity than milk and kindness. (Presumably CS Lewis had in mind when he made Trufflehunter the badger the character who never doubted that Caspian would return.) Telsa (talk) 08:32, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Fiction
We are amassing a long list of "books with a badger in them". Is this a good thing? Half of them are childrens' books, and talking animals are a fairly standard ingredient in children's books. And the badgers are far from the main characters in several of them. The other thing is that these are all English-language books: apparently there is no M. Blaireau or Herr Dachs worth including? So does this reflect a specific genre in Britain (most of them are UK books) that doesn't exist in Europe, Russia, the rest of the badger's range; or does it simply reflect who edits the article most? Telsa (talk) 08:32, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] size
2m in length sounds a bit of a 'stretch', this site says 750mm average: [1]
Of course, it would depend on the species, but I agree badgers of any kind don't grow to 2 meters. Dora Nichov 09:44, 5 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] What badgers eat
I think the facts about the american badger's diet are from The Simpsons, and aren't real. Or mabye somebody didn't understand that the site www.whatbadgerseat.com is a joke website. Either way, it should be cited.
[edit] Badgers
I love Badgers! They are very cute! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.143.47.76 (talk) 00:44, 22 January 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Badger fur is used for Shaving Brushes.
I'd like to know if the badgers are hunted and slaughtered for their fur. Or just shaved like sheep? Where are these badger fur facilities? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.237.101.62 (talk) 19:28, 10 February 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Second largest or largest carnivore in UK?
We seem to be going back and forth between the largest indigenous carnivore in the UK and the second largest. Can both sides please cite their sources here so that we can come to a consensus? --Lonotter 14:51, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
- The Badger Trust (formerly the National Federation of Badger Groups) includes the line: 'Did you know that the badger is the largest land carnivore left in the British Isles following the extinction of the bear and the wolf!' on the 'What is a badger?' page. There have been proposals to reintroduce wolves in scotland although I do not know whether this has been done yet. If that is the case it would be correct (and more enlightening) to say "...are now the second largest native carnivores in the British Isles since wolves were reintroduced in Scotland in (date)" Petecarney 19:23, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Changing United Kingdom to Great Britain
The term "United Kingdom" refers to all territories of the crown, including islands far removed from Great Britain, which is the correct term for the island containing England, Scotland and Wales. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.164.122.5 (talk) 18:56, 28 March 2007 (UTC).
