Honeybadger (Ratel) |
Unique Features
The honey badger is named for its liking of honey. It stands 26cm at the shoulder and has powerful claws on its front paws. Although the honey badger is relatively small, it is solidly built and powerful. Its loose hide is as tough and inpenatrable as armour plating, which makes it almost invincible when skirmishing with predators. They are the most aggressive and powerful animals for their size in Africa. The honey badger will literally fight to the death. They have been known to kill large animals such as wildebeest and waterbuck. Their diet includes moles, rodents, shrews, porcupine, tortoises, insects, fish, eggs, fruit, plant roots and bulbs, honey and bee larvae. Finding Honey A little bird called the honeyguide finds the beehives and then goes in search of a honey badger. Once found, the bird flutters around the honey badger, calling loudly to attract its attention, and then leads it to the beehive. The bird needs the honey badger to do the job of breaking open the hive. While the honey badger feasts off the honey and bee larvae, it brushes bees off its nose as its nose is the only part of its body sensitive to stings. The bird watches and waits until the honey badger has eaten its fill of honey and leaves. The bird is then free to feed off the bee's wax and bee grubs. Predators With its reputation as a vicious fighter until death, the honey badger has few enemies. It is rarely attacked by lion, wild dogs and spotted hyenas - and usually only the old or injured honey badgers are preyed upon. When attacking other animals, the honey badger usually goes for the groin area and genitals, wounding them so badly that their victims bleed to death. Because of their tough hide, honey badgers have been known to take on a pack of wild dogs singlehandedly, and emerge from the fight without a single wound. Their skin is so loose that when under attack, the honey badger is able to turn inside its own skin and position itself to bite back with ferocious effect. Family Ties The honey badger is usually a solitary animal, and walks with a bold and swaggering gait as though it knows it has nothing to fear from predators. They use old aarvark burrows, or burrows that they dig themselves for shelter and for breeding cubs. |