Animal Badger burrowing- Sedimentary and Dolomitic Limestone?

alastairgott

Well-known member
I went for a walk on Sunday, and having dissected the walk, have found out that some badger holes I found were directly on the border between Sedimentary and Dolomitic limestone.


I was wondering if there was any particular reason for this.


The badger holes were on a sloping hill, with Dolomitic limestone making the upper part of the hill and Sedimentary limestone on the lower part of the hill, with the badger holes on the join between the two.


I have done some small research on the subject and Dolomite is stronger than sedimentary limestone.


But the question is are they burrowing under the dolomite to get a better shelter for themselves, or are they burrowing into the boundary because they know there's fissures down there which give them a nice stable temperature all year round.
 

Andy C

New member
This is from an article by Ernest Neal in 1972:

"In many districts badgers exploit the junctures between strata. This applies particularly to
sets dug in sandy soil with a hard impermeable stratum above it which keeps the set dry and
prevents the roof falling in. Thus in the Blackdown Hills (Somerset) they dig into the soft
greensand, leaving churt as a roof and in the Mendips (Somerset) they excavate the sandy
stratum immediately below the hard carboniferous limestone. In the Brendons (Somerest)
the new red sandstone is popular, but especially so when it is roofed by Bunter conglomerate.
In the Cotswolds (Gloucestershire) the sets are often dug in Costwold sand with the oolitic
limestone acting as a roof, while at lower levels they utilize the lower lias clays with
marlstone above. This habit of choosing the juncture between two strata with contrasting
properties appears to be most important and may account for the number of sets found in
quarries where the juncture is easily discovered."

The reference is Neal, E. 1972.  The National Badger Survey.  Mammal Review 2(2): 55-64.
 
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