Difference Between Badgers and Beavers (With Table)

Who doesn’t like to have a companion at home? Pets are so much fun to have, and they will make you happy and smile more. Irrespective of age, people love and enjoy keeping domestic pets at home. Badges and beavers are popular examples of pets owned by children and teenagers. Taking care of them is such an enjoyable activity for children.

Badgers vs Beavers 

The main difference between badges and beavers is that badgers have a fat body and short legs, whereas beavers have a thick body with brown and reddish fur on the top of their skin. Badgers have log heads and tiny ears. Their short tails and black faces differentiate them from beavers. They are completely different. A few people hate these animals because of their rat-like appearance, but they are lovely pets and a lot of children like them.

Badgers have short legs and fat, fleshy bodies. Their heads are elongated, and they have tiny ears. The black face has some patterns that make it easily identifiable. They belong to the families of skunks, but fortunately, they do not carry a skunky odor with them. They usually live under the ground, and a few people build a clan for their badgers.

Beavers are covered by warm fur that is reddish-brown in color. They have thick yet not soft bodies. Since they swim around in the water, their skin is quite waterproof. They can remain in the water for a maximum of fifteen minutes. Their body adaptations allow them to float both in cold and even extremely icy water.

Comparison Table Between Badgers and Beavers

Parameters of Comparison

Badgers

Beavers

Habitat

They live under the ground.

They live in habitats on the sides of a dam.

Speed

The run-up to a speed of 30 km/h.  

They swim at a speed of 5 miles in an hour.

Lifespan

They have a lifespan of a maximum of ten years.    

 They have a lifespan that is double the times of the lifespan of badgers.

Birth

It gives birth to 2 or 3 cubs during a single pregnancy.    

 It gives birth to a minimum of 2 to 6 kittens during a delivery.

Grooming

 Even as pets, they are not groomed.

As pets, their masters groom their fur.

What are Badgers?

Badgers are mammals that have flat bodies with broad feet and long, sharp claws. The skin is covered with coarse hair that might be black, gold, white or brown. It comes from the largest family of the Carnivora, Mustelidae. The size of the badger is up to 20 to a maximum of 34 inches. The tail is another 4 or 6 inches. They weigh anywhere from 4 to 18 kilograms.

Badgers have a variety of habitat preferences open grasslands, woods, quarries, cliffs, and hedgerows. They are usually found in the great plains of North America. The United States and Canadian regions, including the mountainous parts of Mexico, are all the habitats of the badgers. Badgers are a nocturnal species. Their sharp claws and powerful limbs enable them to dig burrows underground, and they also find and store food underground.

Badger’s habitat is called a sett. Badgers are generally hygienic creatures, and hence they have a separate chamber for excretion. These are social creatures and prefer to live in groups. A bunch of badgers together are called cete or a clan. The sett can be as small as 20 meters to as large as 100 meters. This species is omnivores. They usually consume earthworms.

What are Beavers?

Beavers belong to the largest rodent species in the world. They are characterized by thick waterproof fur, webbed feet that are flat and help easily with swimming along with a scaly tail. They have a strong and powerful jaw with hard teeth. They are industrious, hardworking, energetic, and busy.

There are two species of beaver, one being the American beaver, and the other is a Eurasian beaver. Their teth is large and allows them to build habitats in trees and woods. They continue to grow throughout their lifespan. Their size is constantly increasing. Their ability to close their nostrils, ears and the transparent membrane in their eyes all make it easy for swimming. To mask their territory, they secrete a musk-like liquid from their tail.

They need water to live. They live around wet areas and stay far away from dry and parched regions. A beaver’s habitat is called a lodge. These are dome-shaped places built with mud and grass. These lodges are usually found around water bides. They spend their time eating and building. These are nocturnal creatures. They are also capable of building canals to bring water to their habitats. They create ponds and their own water bodies to live.

Main Differences Between Badgers and Beavers 

  1. Badgers live underground or in clans built by their masters, whereas beaver lives in the places nearing dams.
  2. The badgers run at high speed, whereas beavers can remain in the water and swim for about 15 minutes.
  3. The life span of the badgers is half of the lifespan of beavers.
  4. Badgers can give birth to a maximum of 3 cubs in a single delivery, whereas beavers give birth to a maximum of 6 kittens.
  5. Badgers are not groomed, whereas beavers are groomed.

Conclusion

Badgers and beavers have a lot of differences. They also have completely different origins and families. Both these are, however, mammals and are kept as pets. The main difference is the appearance of these animals that helps us to easily differentiate them.

The mating season of badgers is not fixed, and it varies from time to time and is based on the badgers. Beavers have their mating seasons in the month of January and February. Beavers have a gestation period of 128 days, but the badgers take around 80 or a maximum of 180 days. The beavers do not have a fixed period; however, its cycle varies between this range.

References

  1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-008-9053-4
  2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347296902031