Foods of American badgers in west-central Minnesota and southeastern North Dakota during the duck nesting season

Although the American badger (Taxidea taxus) is common in grasslands and preys on a wide diversity of foods including birds, little is known about badger diet in areas where nesting ducks are common. Small mammals, primarily Muridae and Geomyidae, were the most common food items in the diet of badgers collected from west-central Minnesota and southeastern North Dakota during April-July 1987 through 1990, based on analysis of gastrointestinal tracts of 47 adult ( 1/4 -y-old) and 5 juvenile (