Country: Country Matters: Nature Notes

EARTHWORMS FORM the most important item in a badger's diet. They are made vulnerable by their habit of coming to the surface whenever the weather is warm, and lying out during the hours of darkness.

They cannot see or hear, but they are sensitive to light and vibration and usually keep one end anchored in a tunnel so that they can beat a quick retreat if they sense danger. (It is the four pairs of chaetae, or bristles, on each segment that enable the creatures to move by bodily contractions.) But badgers hunt so stealthily that they often take them by surprise, scoffing several within a minute, and one animal may put away 200 worms during a single night. Moles also depend largely on earthworms for sustenance, and many birds eat them with relish.

Fortunately worms exist in immense quantities: it is estimated that an acre of good pasture contains from 100,000 to 3 million. They take a year to mature, and live up to 10 years.

They eat decaying organisms, but also take in soil and tiny pebbles. Their tunnelling and feeding aerate and drain the soil, and worms also improve its structure by drawing organic material into their burrows.

Duff Hart-Davis