Honey Badger

Tiny beast, unaligned


Armor Class: 10
Hit Points: 3 (1d4 + 1)
Speed: 20 feet, burrow 5 feet


Str: 4 (-3)
Dex: 11 (+0)
Con: 12 (+1)
Int: 2 (-4)
Wis: 12 (+1)
Cha: 5 (-3)

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

There are two pairs of mammae. The honey badger possesses an anal pouch which, unusual among mustelids, is eversible, a trait shared with hyenas and mongooses. The smell of the pouch is reportedly "suffocating", and may assist in calming bees when raiding beehives. A male fathers only about half the cubs born within his home range, indicating that honey badgers are fairly promiscuous. Mating takes place any time of year and occurs in a burrow over a course of several days, with the male physically preventing the female from leaving. But males have no part in raising the young. A single cub is born in a burrow after a gestation period of 50 to 70 days. The mother moves her cub to a new burrow every three to eight days. Young stay with their mothers until they are about 12 to 18 months old.

Ecology and Habitats

Honey badgers are nocturnal in nature, so they rest during the day, curled up in a ball to protect their heads and bellies. They are not territorial and often select a new burrow for resting each day. They can dig one themselves, use an available tree trunk, cave, den, or termite mound, or take over a burrow used by any other burrowing animal of similar size. When awake, the honey badger seldom picks fights it can’t win. Thick, loose skin around its neck allows it to rotate its head and bite any attacker. Unlike other animals active at night, their eyes don’t shine in the dark, which makes finding them even more difficult.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Honey badgers are carnivorous. To sate voracious appetites, honey badgers eat nearly everything in their environment. Their diet includes insect larvae, scorpions, snakes and other reptiles, young foxes, jackals, wildcats, birds, turtle eggs, and rodents. Honey badgers tend to hunt alone. They use their strong forelegs and long claws to pry apart termite mounds, dig for insect larvae, and open beehives. They are often found where honey is produced—thus their name—although they’re interested in the bee larvae not the honey. They also scavenge and steal food from other animals, stashing their prizes to eat later. They appear to be quite resourceful. To help them reach food sources in high places, some honey badgers have been observed moving and stacking rocks.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Honey badgers are solitary. When they do meet, males have a loose hierarchy where older males outrank younger ones. Small groups of two to five males may stick together to look for females. They communicate using smell. Their noses are highly sensitive, and they use secretions from their anal glands to repel predators and mark their territory. They can even use these stink bombs to stun a swarm of bees. With ears enclosed within thick skin near the back of the head, honey badgers have difficulty hearing long-range sounds through the air. However, they’re adept at picking up hints of vibrations and sounds coming from underground and inside trees. Vocal communication is important. Males have a “rattle-grunt” they use in aggressive situations, young use a high-pitched “squeal-rattle” when interacting with older males, mothers and cubs have a purr, and all honey badgers use a “rattle-roar” to intimidate predators.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Source of fur, hide, bone, and claws. They are edible, but the meat is foul tasting and tough without marinating. The fur is wiry, used mostly for hairbrushes and scrub brushes for cleaning.

Facial characteristics

The head is small and flat, with a short muzzle. The eyes are small and the ears are little more than ridges on the skin, another possible adaptation to avoiding damage while fighting. The teeth often display signs of irregular development, with some teeth being exceptionally small, set at unusual angles or absent altogether. Honey badgers have a second lower molar on the left side of their jaws, but not the right. Although it feeds predominantly on soft foods, the honey badger's cheek teeth are often extensively worn. The canine teeth are exceptionally short for carnivores. The tongue has sharp, backward-pointing papillae which assist it in processing tough foods.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Darkvision: 30 feet
Passive Perception: 11
Keen Smell. The badger has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 feet, one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Other carnivores often follow honey badgers on a hunt. Animals such as jackals and baboons follow them and catch rodents that escape when a honey badger is digging. Its striking colors warn would-be predators that a honey badger is not an easy meal. When threatened, the badger faces its enemy, produces a rattle-roar, stands its hair on end, emits a stink bomb, and then charges. This display, combined with the badger’s sheer strength and a tough, loose hide that makes getting a firm grip difficult for an attacker, usually causes the predator give up and go looking for an easier meal. Usually, humans are a honey badgers only enemies.

Scientific Name

Mellivora Capensis

Origin/Ancestry

Zendrian

Lifespan

26 years

Conservation Status

Full black badgers are under protection in some city-states with controlled trapping and hunting. There are captive breeding programs instituted in some areas.

Average Height

9-11 inches at the shoulder

Average Weight

Males weigh 20-35 pounds
Females weigh 11-22 pounds

Average Length

22–30 inches long, the tail adding another 4–11 inches

Average Physique

The honey badger has a fairly long body, but is distinctly thick-set and broad across the back. Its skin is remarkably loose, and allows it to turn and twist freely within it. The honey badger has short and sturdy legs, with five toes on each foot. The feet are armed with very strong claws, which are short on the hind legs and remarkably long on the forelimbs. It is a partially plantigrade animal whose soles are thickly padded and naked up to the wrists. The tail is short and is covered in long hairs, save for below the base. Females are smaller than males. The winter fur is long - 1.6–2.0 inches long on the lower back and consists of sparse, coarse, bristle-like hairs, with minimal underfur. Hairs are even sparser on the flanks, belly and groin. The summer fur is shorter - 0.59 inches long on the back and even sparser, with the belly being half bare.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

The sides of the head and lower body are pure black. A large white band covers the upper body, from the top of the head to the base of the tail. One rare type of Honey badger are unique in being completely black. These completely black badgers are highly prized and their hide is worth a lot of money.