Badgers are omnivores with a highly varied diet that includes both animal and plant foods. Their principal food in much of Western Europe is earthworms, which can make up about 60% of their diet, with an adult badger eating over 200 worms in a single night
. Other typical food items for badgers include:
- Invertebrates such as beetles, insect larvae, scorpions, and wasp or bee larvae
- Small mammals like young rabbits, mice, ground squirrels, and gophers
- Carrion (dead animals and birds)
- Fruits, nuts, and berries such as blackberries, cherries, elderberries, acorns, fallen fruit, and nuts
- Cereals like wheat, oats, and barley
- Roots, bulbs, and tubers
- Occasionally birds, lizards, snakes, and insects if easy to catch
Honey badgers, a related species, have a broader carnivorous diet that includes reptiles (even venomous snakes), birds, rodents, and bee brood, and they are known for their digging and climbing skills to find food
. In gardens, badgers may be fed wet cat or dog food, fruit, raw peanuts or Brazil nuts, mealworms, or specially formulated badger food
. In summary, badgers eat a wide range of foods, primarily earthworms and other invertebrates, supplemented by small mammals, fruits, nuts, cereals, and roots, reflecting their opportunistic foraging behavior
