Badgers inhabit a complex underground dwelling known as a sett. This network of tunnels and chambers provides shelter, a place to raise their young, and a social gathering point. The sett is a constructed home that plays a role in the survival and social structure of a badger clan.
What Defines a Badger Sett
A badger sett is an underground home, a system of tunnels and chambers used for shelter, breeding, and social interaction. These dwellings are found in areas with well-drained, easily diggable soil, such as sand or chalk. Sloping ground is often preferred, as it aids in drainage and helps keep the sett dry. Badgers choose locations with natural cover, like woodlands, hedgerows, or copses, where tree roots can offer additional structural support.
External indicators reveal the presence of a sett. Entrances are oval-shaped, wider than high, measuring around 30 centimeters (12 inches) wide by 25 centimeters (10 inches) high, suited to the badger’s stocky build. Large piles of excavated soil, known as spoil heaps, are found outside active entrances, sometimes containing discarded bedding material. Well-worn paths leading to and from the sett, along with nearby shallow pits used as latrines, also signal badger activity.
The Physical Structure of a Sett
The internal architecture of a badger sett is a complex network of interconnecting tunnels and chambers. A sett can range from a simple burrow with a single tunnel to a vast system spanning over 2,000 square meters, featuring up to 300 meters (1,000 feet) of tunnels and as many as 40 openings. These structures take many years to complete and may be continuously occupied by generations of badgers for centuries.
Tunnels are located between 0.5 and 2 meters (1.5 to 6.5 feet) beneath the surface, though main nesting chambers can be deeper, sometimes up to 3 meters (10 feet) underground in colder regions. Within this network, badgers excavate various chambers for different purposes, including sleeping, nesting, and raising cubs. These chambers are lined with dry bedding materials such as grass, straw, dead leaves, or bracken, which badgers collect and drag backwards into the sett.
Different Types of Badger Setts
Badger clans maintain several types of setts within their territory, each serving a distinct function. The main sett is the largest and most consistently occupied, serving as the primary residence and breeding site for the clan. It features numerous entrances and well-worn paths leading to and from it.
An annex sett is smaller than a main sett and is usually located nearby, connected by clear pathways. These setts are frequently occupied and can serve as alternative residences or secondary breeding sites if the clan size increases.
Subsidiary setts are located further from the main sett and are used seasonally or intermittently. They may or may not have obvious paths connecting them to the main sett.
Outlier setts are the smallest and most sporadically used, having only one or two entrances and no well-defined paths to other setts. These setts function as temporary shelters, used by badgers during extended foraging trips or by younger animals. The distribution of these different sett types allows badgers to utilize their territory efficiently.
Life and Activity Within the Sett
Badgers spend approximately 70% of their lives underground within the sett. The sett provides for the social group, known as a clan, which can range from two to twenty individuals. Cubs are born blind and depend entirely on their mother, remaining underground in the sett for about eight weeks before emerging.
Badgers maintain hygiene within their setts. They deposit droppings in communal latrine pits located outside the sett, some distance away. Bedding material is changed; badgers remove old, parasite-laden bedding and replace it with fresh vegetation, sometimes bringing in plants like wild garlic to deter fleas. This rotation of sleeping chambers and bedding changes helps to limit the buildup of parasites. While badgers do not truly hibernate, they may enter a state of torpor during colder months, relying on fat reserves built up in autumn, and huddle together in the sett to share body heat.