Do I have a badger in my yard?

[Stainless]

I live in MN. Sometime between Friday night and saturday morning, A large hole appeared in my yard. It's about as big around as a basketball and 2 feet deep. You can see at the bottom of the hole this critter made it to the tunnel of one of my lovely pocket gopher tunnels. There are very large/deep claw marks up and down the sides of the tunnel and not nearly enough dirt above ground to fill in the crater this critter made. I seam to have had a successful summer sniping my ground squirrels/striped gophers and keeping up on trapping my pocket gophers, now I have this damn thing. Any ideas what it would be other than a badger? If it is a badger, do they travel far or keep to a small area? Before I resort to trapping it, is there any ways of baiting it in with food or my foxpro to eliminate it in another way? Thanks, Jon

[borg]

Maybe. Sounds big for a woodchuck.

[5spd]

Range is about a 2 mile square or so more depending on food sources.
I watched & followed one this week that traveld 3/4 mile looking for food along a p-dog town I was shooting in before I lost it.

[bubbinator]

Try baiting a trap with cooked smoked sausage. I have a lot of coons and possums around my free range chickens and if one comes in the yard that sauasge will get them every time- 15 possums and 3 coons and counting.

[dcloco]

A picture would be great.....otherwise, in no particular order, one or more of the items collected from the vermin would be useful to help identify the critter.

Stool sample
Right or left bicuspid
Armpit hair sample


You more than likely have a badger. Could be a wolverine though.

[Blue Avenger]

badgers love gopher holes. just ask the WI basketball team!