Badger Crossing - Cranbrook, British Columbia
Posted by: 
wildwoodke
N 49° 29.769 W 115° 33.916
11U E 603892 N 5483601
This is a badger crossing that has been set up to protect this animal as it crosses between habitats on Highway 3 near Cranbrook, British Columbia.
Waymark Code: WM8N22
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 04/21/2010
Views: 6
American badgers (Taxidea taxus) are red-listed in British Columbia (Cannings et al. 1999) and the subspecies present there (T. t. jeffersonii) is listed as endangered in Canada (COSEWIC 2006). Badger ecology has been or is being studied in 3 areas of the province. Vehicle collisions (hereafter “roadkills”) have been the largest mortality source for badgers in the East Kootenay area (Kinley and Newhouse 2008) and the Thompson-Okanagan region (Weir et al. 2004). The relative impacts of each mortality source is not yet known for the southern Cariboo area, but roadkills are a significant cause of death there also (Packham and Hoodicoff 2004). Decreasing road mortality has been identified as a key recovery action in the national recovery strategy (jeffersonii Badger Recovery Team 2004). Understanding factors contributing to roadkill risk would therefore aid in planning badger recovery actions.
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recommend that steps be taken to maximize opportunities for badgers to use culverts to pass under highways. Recognizing the high cost of installing new culverts at a high frequency over extended lengths of highway, options include: (a) repairing or retrofitting existing structures where needed to make them more useable; (b) increasing the odds of badgers finding culverts by clearing vegetation where it obscures entrances, ensuring that marker posts are in place, and potentially installing drift nets to guide movements; (c) selectively installing more culverts, either when highway construction occurs or possibly by boring under highways; and (d) seeking opportunities to investigate culvert or landscape characteristics associated with the use of culverts by badgers.
Selected text from:
Kinley, Trevor A. 2007. "Badger Roadkill Risk in Relation to the Presence of Culverts and Jersey Barriers". Prepared for: Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program (Columbia Basin) Nelson, British Columbia.
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