OT, in answer to the Badger question -- yes, we have Badgers in the US (and Canada) -- in most states.
Yes, we hunt them.
The American badger (Taxidea taxus) is a North American badger, somewhat similar in appearance to the European badger. It is found in the western and central United States, northern Mexico, and south-central Canada to certain areas of southwestern British Columbia.
They are protected in Canada and California -- In May 2000, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listed both the Taxidea taxus jacksoni and the T. t. jeffersonii subspecies as an endangered species in Canada. The California Department of Fish and Game designated the American badger as a California species of special concern.
I have little knowledge of the European badger but the American badger will attacked people and has no real predators. (Wolve will kill and eat small, young or old badgers if they have no better options.) They are solitary animals and need a very large area per badger.
Badgers have moved into central PA and most of Ohio.
They will eat almost anything -- According to Wiki, "The American badger is a fossorial carnivore. It preys predominantly on pocket gophers (Geomyidae), ground squirrels (Spermophilus), moles (Talpidae), marmots (Marmota), prairie dogs (Cynomys), pika (Ochotona), woodrats (Neotoma), kangaroo rats (Dipodomys), deer mice (Peromyscus), and voles (Microtus), often digging to pursue prey into their dens, and sometimes plugging tunnel entrances with objects. They also prey on ground-nesting birds, such as the bank swallow or sand martin (Riparia riparia) and burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), and lizards, amphibians, carrion, fish, skunks (Mephitis and Spilogale), insects, including bees and honeycomb, and some plant foods such as corn (Zea mais), peas, green beans, mushrooms and other fungi, and sunflower seeds (Helianthus)."
Wisconsin is the Badger State. But that was not originally for the animals.
