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Going to bat for badgers
Petaluma residents hope to raise grant funding to extend preservation of 11-acre field that is home to colony of badgers
Biologist Kim Fitts, who works as an environmental consultant in Santa Rosa, uses a stick to probe the depth of badger holes Tuesday September 1, 2009. A freshly burrowed summer den is in the foreground. The plot of land is in west Petaluma.
Kent Porter/The Press DemocratPublished: Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 10:18 p.m.
Some say they resemble dogs or even seals. Others describe them as prehistoric-looking creatures with long snouts and striped heads.
Facts
NORTH AMERICAN BADGER
Habitat: Dry, open grasslands, fields and pastures, from alpine meadows to sea level
Size: 2 to 3 feet long, head to tail, weighing up to 26 pounds Males are larger than females
Prey: Gophers, moles, ground squirrels, lizards, amphibians, carrion, hibernating skunks, insects
Behavior: Solitary animals with typical population density of about eight animals per square mile. Furiopus diggers, tTheyuse multiple burrows within their home range and may not use the same burrow more than once a month. In the summer months, they may dig a new burrow each day.
Life span: 4-10 years in the wild, 26 years in captivity
Source: University of Michigan Museum of Zooology
Either way, few people have actually laid eyes on the North American badgers that have occupied a west Petaluma pasture for at least a century.
The ornery beasts only come out of their burrows at night and don't seem to relish human company.
“I think they are truly amazing,” said neighbor Susan Kirks, who once glimpsed a badger rubbing noses with a cat. “I've come to develop a real affinity for them.”
Kirks isn't alone in her love of the elusive mammal with a knack for digging into the earth and eating rodents.
Last year, she and her Paula Lane neighbors convinced Sonoma County open space officials to put up $1 million to help buy the 11-acre field that is the badgers' home.
If the group can raise an additional $200,000 to $1 million through grants, Taxidea taxus, as they are officially known, will be allowed to mate and hunt in the colony for at least another 100 years.
That's important because badgers are being pushed from their historic grassland range by growth and could get cut off, said Kim Fitts, a Santa Rosa wildlife biologist who prepared a report on the Paula Lane habitat.
Badgers once inhabited all of Northern California but have been gradually forced westward as development covered the plains, Fitts said.
Now, the Paula Lane property — once eyed for houses — is one of the few remaining corridors linking the badger to coastal wilderness, Fitts said.
If the area can be preserved, the animal — listed by the state as a species of concern — will have a chance to thrive, she said.
“Badgers are quite rare, especially here in Northern California,” Fitts said. “Yet they've been moving through these burrows for at least the past 80 years.”
Fitts said it's unknown how many badgers live in the colony because they move around a lot. She hasn't seen one on Paula Lane but mapped the large oval holes, which are up to 7 feet deep and have compartments for birthing and food.
Badgers are covered in soft fur and weigh up to 26 pounds. They are carnivorous, eating squirrels, rats gophers and even rattlesnakes by digging into their holes, Fitts said.
“They really keep the small mammal population in check,” she said. “A lot of ranchers and farmers know they are beneficial.”
On Tuesday, Fitts walked the property with Kirks, examining the badger's other calling card, excrement. Rolling a piece in her bare hand, she said it's easy to identify because badgers eat their prey whole.
“See the bones in it?” she asked.
Kirks, who lives next to the property, has had a few sightings. Last year, she and a group of neighbors spotted what looked like a seal scurrying up to a cat. The two animals touched noses and parted.
“There was a kind of mutual respect,” she said.
But not everyone is so enamored.
Neighbor Joe Molinoli said the foot-wide burrows are a danger to horses and lawn mowers. He broke two axles running over the holes in his adjacent field.
In his 80 years on the street, Molinoli has tried various ways to get rid of them, including smoke bombs and poison, but they won't budge.
“They dig like a son of a gun,” Molinoli said. “You'd think someone went down there with a backhoe. They are a nuisance.”
More recently, Molinoli said he's come around to the idea of preserving the habitat. If the land were sold to a developer, someone could build up to 15 houses next door, he said.
“I'd rather have the badgers than the houses,” he said. “I don't mind them so much.”
Just when the deal might go through is uncertain. The property owners agreed to sell after the Planning Commission denied their housing project about four years ago.
The Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District agreed to the matching grant last year and officials are expected to certify a property appraisal this fall.
And partners in the deal, including the city of Petaluma, are awaiting word on several grant applications to cover the remaining purchase price. A freeze on state money could cause delays.
Joan Vilms, a private open space consultant who's working on the project, said a deal could be complete by spring.
Once the land is preserved, organizers will launch education programs tied to the local school district. Plans include a wildlife viewing area and perimeter trail.
“There's competition for funds, and badgers aren't particularly sexy in our culture,” Vilms said. “But the community is completely behind it. I think they're terrific animals.”
You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 762-7297 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.
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