The handsome and somewhat portly badger is one of the largest members of the weasel family. It is widespread and common in North America, as long as there is suitable Habitat. Badgers live in open forested areas, or rangeland. In British Columbia, these habitats have been seriously reduced in the era of European settlement, and as a result the Badger is a rare mammal in this province. Fewer than 1,000 Badgers remain here, and they are restricted to the Okanagan Valley, north to Kamloops, and the East Kootenay region.

Badgers spend much of their lives in burrows, which they dig with powerful forepaws and long claws. A female's maternity burrow complex is likely to include a split main tunnel, so two animals can pass, separate chambers for disposal of faeces, and a grass-lined bedding chamber. Badger litters average about two young, and are usually born in April. Like some other weasels, the Badger's reproductive system delays the implantation of the eggs in the uterus.

The young are independent after about three months of their mother's care, and at this time they disperse to new territory. This movement may be as much as 100 kilometers, and is a time of high mortality in the young animals. Badgers are taken by Coyotes and Golden Eagles, but in an increasingly human environment, many are killed by cars and vermin poisons. If a young Badger escapes these threats, it must hunt efficiently to keep itself alive. Their diet is mostly small mammals, including a high percentage of fossorial species, or those that live in burrows.

In British Columbia, the decline of the Badger has in turn had a direct impact on the Burrowing Owl, which often nests in abandoned Badger burrows. Both species are on the province's Red List, indicating extreme vulnerability to extirpation.