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===Diet===
European badgers are among the least carnivorous members of the [[Carnivora]];<ref name="s1265">{{Harvnb|Heptner|Sludskii|2001|pp=1265–1268}}</ref> they are highly adaptable and opportunistic [[omnivore]]somnivores, whose diet encompasses a wide range of animals and plants. [[Earthworm]]s are their most important food source, followed by large [[insect]]s, [[carrion]], [[cereals]], [[fruit]] and small [[mammal]]s, including [[rabbit]]s, [[Mouse|mice]], [[rat]]s, [[vole]]s,<ref name=ADW>{{cite web |last1=Wang |first1=Annie |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Meles_meles/ |title=''Meles meles'' Eurasian Badger |website = ADW |publisher=University of Michigan Museum of Zoology}}</ref> [[shrew]]s, [[Mole (animal)|mole]]s and [[hedgehog]]s. Insect prey includes [[Chafer beetle|chafer]]s, [[Dung beetle|dung]] and [[ground beetle]]s, [[caterpillar]]s, [[Crane fly|leatherjacket]]s, and the nests of [[wasp]]s and [[bumblebee]]s. They are able to destroy wasp nests, consuming the occupants, combs, and envelope, such as that of ''[[Vespula rufa]]'' nests, since their thick skin and body hair protect the badgers from stings.<ref name="Edwards">Edwards, Robin. (1980). Social Wasps: Their Biology and Control. W. Sussex, Great Britain: Rentokil Limited.</ref> Cereal food includes wheat, [[oat]]s, maize and occasionally [[barley]]. Fruits include windfall apples, pears, [[plum]]s, [[blackberries]], [[bilberries]], [[raspberries]], [[cherries]],<ref name=ADW/> [[strawberries]], [[acorn]]s, [[beechmast]], [[pignut]]s and wild [[arum]] [[corm]]s.
Occasionally, they feed on medium to large [[bird]]s, [[amphibian]]s, [[fish]], small [[reptile]]s including [[tortoise]]s and [[lizard]]s, [[snail]]s, [[slug]]s, fungi, tubers and green food such as [[clover]] and [[grass]], particularly in winter and during [[drought]]s.<ref name="h432-433">{{Harvnb|Harris|Yalden|2008|pp=432–433}}</ref><ref name=ADW/> Badgers characteristically capture large numbers of one food type in each hunt. Generally, they do not eat more than {{cvt|0.5|kg}} of food per day, with young specimens yet to attain one year of age eating more than adults. An adult badger weighing {{convert|15|kg|lb|abbr=on}} eats a quantity of food equal to 3.4% of its body weight.<ref name="s1265"/> Badgers typically eat prey on the spot, and rarely transport it to their setts. [[Surplus killing]] has been observed in chicken coops.<ref name="h432"/>
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