Tunnel Badger
Anatomy
Tunnel badgers have the typical anatomy of a badger from the Mustelid family. Tunnel badgers have a significantly long body, with short arms, legs, and a tail, that help them to travel at faster speeds in their setts. Their fur is a blend of black and brown, with bright white strips across their backs, from their heads trailing to their tails.
Tunnel badgers are sexually dimorphic, and it is very easy to tell apart males and females. Females are much larger than males, almost twice the size. They also have small black spots along their white stripes, which are noticeable from far away.
Diet
Tunnel badgers are mesocarnivorous. They consume a diet consisting of about 50% meat, and 50% plants and fungi. In terms of animal prey, they will target any animal smaller than them. Their large heads are designed to crush, with strong jaws that can bite down on the necks of prey and snap them with easy. They often crush the heads of their prey too, which is sometimes easier.
Tunnel badgers will forage for fallen fruits and seeds around the roots of trees, using their large heads to uproot said roots. They will occasionally snack on leaves, ferns and grasses on the floors of the maze forests, but this is less common.
Reproduction
Females are much larger than males, and for that reason the males are required to impress females. Males will seek out the most delicious foods, both meat and plants, and bring them back into the communal setts for females to inspect. If she is pleased, they will mate.
Females will give birth to a litter of 5 to 6 cubs at any time of year, making them a continuous iteroparous species. The cubs remain in the setts for three months, until they venture out with the father to learn to hunt, all the while the mother brings food.
Habitat
Tunnel badgers live in the Maze Forests of the planet Maloruno. These forests are formed by maze pines, a species of coniferous tree that only grows exactly north, east, south, or west from each other. This forms the maze-shaped forests that tunnel badgers have adapted into their setts.
When these animals aren't hidden away in their setts, they are scavenging on the surface for food. Tunnel badgers are a nocturnal species and only leave their setts at night, to avoid diurnal predators. The only issue is that there are many nocturnal predators too, many of which would easily hunt and kill tunnel badgers.
Tunneling & Setts
Tunnel badger setts are some of the most impressive structures made by such small animals. These setts typically have around fifty entrances, several kilometres of tunnels, all interconnected in neatly constructed patterns. The shape of the setts mimic the patterns of the trees on the surface, and often the badgers will tunnel directly downwards, resulting in the difficult climb upwards if they want to go back.
Because female badgers are so much larger than male badgers, there are fewer parts of the setts they can explore. About half of the entrances of a specific sett are big enough for females to enter, and this often confuses explorers to think much larger, more dangerous creatures live down there. The tunnels female badgers can enter do not travel as far down as the ones males can explore, simply because their heavier bodies struggle more to climb directly upwards.
Surface Foliage
Certain tunnels that the badgers make are so close to the surface that it actually disrupts it, resulting in long stretches of ground slightly raised. This soil has been churned up by the badgers as they dig, which actually helps the growth of plants. It is not uncommon to find plants growing specifically on this ground, in these perfectly straight lines that zig-zag through the forests.50 - 60 cm (female shoulder height)
30 - 40 kg (females)
1.5 - 2 metres (females)
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