Honey Badger For Sale

The honey badger is a mammal native to Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Though you wouldn’t know this by its name, it doesn’t closely resemble other badger species. It’s actually closer in looks to weasels. It’s mainly a carnivorous animal (however, it does eat plants as well) and it has few natural predators because of the thick skin, strength, and defensive skills. In the Guinness Book of World Records, it’s even listed as the “world’s most fearless animal.” Physically speaking, a honey badger has a long body that’s thick-set and broad across the back with loose, thick skin, a small, flat head, a short muzzle, small eyes, and small ears that are little more than ridges on the skin. It has short, sturdy legs with five toes on each foot with strong claws on each foot. These claws are shorter on the hind legs than they are on the front legs. They have thickly padded soles and do not have fur up to the wrists. They have a short, furry tail. An adult honey badger can measure 9”-11” in shoulder height and 22”-30” in body length with the tail adding another 4.5”-11.5”. Males can weigh up to 35 pounds and females can weigh up to 22 pounds. Because of its large size, it is ranked as the third largest known badger (after the European badger and Hog badger). The teeth of honey badgers often grow in odd ways, with some teeth growing in very small, some growing in at unusual angles, or some not growing in at all. Don’t let this fool you, though. Their teeth and jaws are strong enough to crush the shell of a tortoise. There is also a gland at the base of its tail that it uses to mark its territory and defend itself, much like a skunk. The main characteristic that it is known for is the large white band that covers its upper body from the top of the head to the base of the tail that stands out from the rest of its pure black coat.

Honey Badger Behavior

The honey badger is, for the most part, solitary. During breeding season, however, they may hunt in pairs and when the cubs are growing up, they will stick around their mother until they are old enough to hunt on their own. They are skilled diggers and are able to dig a tunnel into hard ground in ten minutes. Even with this skill, though, they often use old burrows of aardvarks, warthogs, and termite mounds. The burrows of a honey badger are not filled with straw or other typical bedding materials and only have one entrance, with the honey badger often attacking out of this hole if it feels threatened. Known for its strength, ferocity, and toughness, a honey badger has been known to attack pretty much any other species that threatens or comes too close to it, even large animals like lions, hyenas, horses, and cattle. Smaller animals, such as bees and porcupines rarely get past their thick skin. Even with its tough nature, it is hunted by large animals such as lions, pythons, crocodiles, and spotted hyenas. When a honey badger hunts, it generally looks for honey, insects, frogs, tortoises, turtles, lizards, rodents, snakes, birds, eggs, berries, roots, and bulb. If it kills an animal for a meal, it will eat everything from the fur and flesh to the bones, leaving nothing behind. 
The lifespan of a honey badger in the wild is unknown, however, in captivity, they can live up to 24 years. They vocalize through whines, however, their voices are hoarse. When they are defending against dogs, they will even scream like a bear cub. As for the behavior of honey badgers during breeding season, little is known. We know that the gestation period is around six months and a female honey badger will have two cubs.

Interactions with Humans 
Basically put, honey badgers and humans do not mix well. Honey badgers often hunt poultry when able and because of their tenacity and ferocity, they are very difficult to keep away. They will attack hens and ducks, tear boards from hen houses, and burrow underneath the sides of the hen house walls. Because of this, many humans will hunt or attack any that come close to their animals. Honey badgers have very tough skin, however, so this hunting becomes difficult. Dogs are unable to penetrate the tough and loose skin and this skin allows them to twist and turn when held, making them pretty useless when going after the honey badger. The skin is even tough enough to resist machete blows, arrows, and spears. The only sure way to hunt and kill a honey badger quickly is to use a club or a gun to the back of the head. 
There have even been stories of honey badgers in history that show just how formidable an enemy they can be. In 2007, the British troops occupied Basra and the local population passed around rumors of “man-eating badgers,” even claiming that they were released by the British troops (which the British troops denied). The director of Basra’s veterinary hospital confirmed that honey badgers had been local to the area since 1986. In some parts of North India, there have been reports of honey badgers living close to humans and attacking poultry, small livestock, and even small children. There are even reports of honey badgers digging up human corpses in this country. Based on these reports, honey badgers are certainly not animals that should be kept 
as pets. 
On a lighter note, honey badgers have made it into popular culture, showing up on YouTube, in memes, and even a spinoff book. Disney also released a Disney Junior series that included a honey badger as one of the main characters. In sports, “honey badger” is a common nickname given to athletes who are particularly tough and fearless. Even though a real honey badger isn’t an animal that you want to encounter in person, it can be a symbol of strength and fearlessness.