In September of 2023, in an unfortunate incident, an American Badger was hit by a car. Upon his intake into Calgary Wildlife, the badger was quite thin, he had superficial abrasions on his face, and he was dragging his right hind leg. During the exam, staff found that he had a tibia fracture of his right hind leg as well as a heavy load of ticks and mites.
During the badger’s first few days in care, his fracture was placed in a cast and the ticks were
removed and sent off for testing. The badger struggled with his digestive health due to unhealthy bacteria in his gut. This made it difficult for him to start gaining weight.
Three days after the badger’s intake, surgery was performed to set the fracture. The medications finally started helping and his digestive health began to improve. The badger did not start weight-bearing on the fractured leg until day five in care, two days after the surgery. At this point, he was only limping so much improvement was still needed.
On his twelfth day in care, it was noted that the badger had begun to walk more normally on his injured leg. His weight also began to improve at this point as his digestive system continued to recover. Finally, on day twenty-two of care the badger improved enough to stop all medications. His gut bacteria had returned to normal and the surgery site was healing well. Staff are just awaiting proper weight and recovery markers to make sure that the badger is ready for release. It is important to wait for these benchmarks to be achieved to ensure the animal has the best chance for survival after release.
