So we’ll show you some nice clean ones instead, courtesy of the Wildlife Centre Project in Tunbridge Wells, England. According to the Daily Mail, these black-and-white babies were taken in after being abandoned by their mum.

(whiny documentary presenter voice) Experts are noting an increase in orphaned badger cubs, as Man continues to badger the boundaries of his badger fragile relationship with the environment badger, bringing us badger more in conflict with badger badger and badger ultimately badger badger badger badger…


Awwww… *kisses their stripey little heads*
I’ve always had a weak spot for badgers.. I think it was all the Redwall as a kid.
mushroom, mushroom!
And BAdger those little badgers with Kisses because badgery Kisses are the Badgeriest
Why can’t I live in eeeengland with those baby badgers?! They’re so cute! I cannot physically take 5 baby badgers in one place at a time! *paper bag hyperventalates*
ZOMG two arms full of tiny little referees!
Laelya: I’m older than you. I got my love of badgers from Wind in the Willows.
Aw, great, now you’ve got the “Badger badger badger badger” song stuck in my head.
Are you sure these guys are British? Because they look like rather furry team of NFL field officials.
WOW! Stripey heads and a cluster of beepable noses. <3
Two-toned cuteness!
A bouquet of badgers!
(Is that the collective noun for a badger?? bunch? clutch? herd? posse?)
@ Von Zep: Great minds and whatnot.
Omg, the second pic… Eep! How awesome are they?!
@biscuithead: Actually, the collective is a Wisconsin of Badgers!
I’ll take one!
@Gail (the first one)
Took me a moment.
That would be a sports team, right?
Go Badgers?
Funny, Laelya, just minutes before I read your comment I had checked out a couple of Redwall books to a mom for her son. It wouldn’t have occurred to me that somebody who’s grown up could have been reading Redwall as a kid, but then I did some math–Redwall first came out in 1986–and yep, it’s possible all right.
Yes, Tigress, for me also badgers bring to mind Wind In The Willows.
Baby badgers=breathtaking cuteness.
Gah, too cute!
Thanks for the ear worm…
snake it’s a snake ooh it’s a snake
precision stripage! do you suppose they use stencils to get their stripes just right?
A snake! A snake! SNAAAAKE! A SNAAAAKE! Ooooh, it’s a SNAKE!
Thanks, NTMTOM.
Wow! Oh how I want snorgle these stripey babies. Did anyone ever read and of the “Frances” books as a kid? Bread and Jam for Frances or Bedtime for Frances. Kind of hard to believe that these cutie pies are pretty grumbly adults.
Three things I thought I’d never say:
Let’s spend the winter in Detroit.
These fried crickets are delicious!
What adorable badgers!
Wow! In pic #1 badge on the left is keesing the other badge! So sweet!
Fluffernugget: the Frances books are still quite popular with kids! (can anyone guess, from my two comments on this post, what I do for work?)
@Skippymom – Library right? I also work in the library, but for the public school system district office in W-S, NC.
CO rocks!!
Their noses are out of control and they MUST be stopped.
Oh yeah, these babies look so soft and sweet. Could just smush ‘em. Don’t they become aggressive as they get older? I don’t know much about them.
Still cute and squishy!
I hear “On Wisconsin” playing in the back ground…
Such cuteness, and so fashionable. All ready for the CO Black and White Ball.
Poor little stripey babies. I wonder what happened to their Mommy…
Wow those are some of the cutest things I have seen in a long long long time. Forget puppies and kittens. Badgers!
Hi Elisha, nice to meet you. I’m the children’s librarian in a public library in
Massachusetts. Yeah, I think adult badgers have a reputation as being mean, but I’ve never met one.
Their nosicles are very beepable, but those pointy-ends look deadly.
I love those stripey little heads, they look like taffy candy!
biscuithead: According to the Interweb, it is a “Cete” of badgers. Cete being a word for “to come together”. Not as fun as a parliament of owls or a murder of crows, but interesting enough.
Second alt text is win. Meme depth of 2!
Also I love how in the second picture the middle badger is all “Dudes…” with the dangly paws and unfocused eyes. And the back row of badgers is doing the “pitiful Dickensian orphan” look.
Which one is Frances???
such unbearable stripeness of being!
They could SO be the new ad campaign for White House/Black Market!!
@Northern Tigress
A “Cete” of Badgers, eh?
“Cete” doesn’t really pop, now does it?
Not as cool as a Rhumba of Rattlesnakes or an Unkindess of Ravens either.
Nah, I’m just going to have to propose “bouquet” an alternative collective noun:
A Bouquet of Badgers!
awww, little referee/skunk-like badgers. so cute! sad to read their mum abandoned them. i wonder why? thank goodness for animal societies that can step in and take care of them. we all must do our duty as humans who have crashed into and taken over the natural habitant of such cute little furry badgers and other animals. yes, indeedy!
update: i re-read that article, and i understand it is just two people taking care of the badgers, it doesn’t seem to be a humane society, and they’ve got seven already which they say is unusual and blame it on dwindling habitant and food supply. it is likely their mum went to look for food and met her fate under the wheel of a vehicle. mama animals don’t leave their babies all day long like this one did. the people waited and watched all day and when night came they realized she wasn’t coming back and intervened. that was good. instead of taking them right away, just stick around from a distance, use binoculars to keep track of things, maybe the mama will come back, maybe not, but she definitely wouldn’t have left them alone for longer than 12 hours. still sad to read because things like that are our fault.
I have to agree that we need a better collective noun than “cete”
how about a conference of badgers?
a rumble of badgers?
a bundle of badgers?
I sing that song to my birds all the time… “A-budgie, budgie, budgie, budgie, budgie, budgie, budgie, budgie, budgie, budgie, budgie, MUSHROOM, MUSHROOM!!!” Cute badgers anyway.
a grumble of badgers?
oooh – a grumble of badgers. I like that.
A round of jam sandwiches for everyone! (I blame Frances for craving soft boiled eggs too!)
I kind of like cete. It’s unique and who doesn’t want to be unique?
SIX babeh badgers! now way! make it stop now.
(has panic attack, falls off chair backwards)
Thems look like thems is smilin’!
It can also be a “clan” of badgers.
As in “I am Badger McCute of the Clan McCute”
They look exactly alike! Mebbeh three sets of twins; or two sets of triplets;
Quintuplets plus one? Quadruplets plus two? Noes, noes, noes;
OK……Sextuplets! A baggle of badgers, perhaps? (OK; I stop naow…;)
Grumble of badgers FTW!!
How adorable! Until they are full grown and scratch your face off
Seriously – there is a special place in heaven for animal rescuer types.
I can now say I’ve seen a badger belly.
Ohhh, baby badgers!
I’ve only had one experince with badgers–I was going for a drive with my dad as a teenager, and dad spotted two badgers and their burrow by the side of the road. He stopped the truck so my sister and I could get a good look. One of the badgers promptly dissapeard into the burrow. The other one threatened the truck, until it figured out we wern’t going anywhere, then dissapeared into the burrow as well. Let me say it again. The badger THREATENED THE TRUCK! Of course (s)he was probably protecting simalarly cute bebbehs, so I suppose I can understand why.
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to meet one of those guys face to face.
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
Dey so key-ute!
WEEX! They’re like otters – but even CUTER! I didn’t even think that was possibuls!
I WANT ONE.
Aw, man …. can we not institute some kind of “earworm alert” before those kinds links to videos etc. that get into your brain – how am I going to get that one out of my head? Badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger ……
A badger’s burrow is called a sett. I learned that from an episode of To The Manor Born.
Badger badges for everyone!
(“Badge”:
I love the pawsitude in the middle there…
Just a wee note… these are British (Eurasian) badgers, Meles meles. North American badgers are a different sort of badger, Taxidea taxus. So the badgers that the Americans are thinking of (including the fictional Frances) are a rather different type. British badgers are social animals, generally very mild-mannered, and earthworms are their main diet although they do snack on other things, both vegetable and animal. American badgers are solitary animals (and I think this is where the grouchy reputation comes from, by the way!), and they are somewhat more carnivorous, chomping down on small rodents and suchlike.
I love the British badger so I’m partial… but baby American badgers are also very adorable in a cute-ugly sort of way!
Fluffernugget! OMG, I wondered if I was the only one that read the Frances books! I still have Bread & Jam for Frances. And read it. To myself.
ANd Frances is my sister’s name too. (smile)
Yes, guys, badgers get VERY nasty when full grown. I had one not only threaten a full sized pick-up truck, but give us warning charges as well. And I have seen video of a badger backing down a grown bear. Granted, the bear was not hunting or upset; just curious.
I can has? i’ll give my old tea set for them. no backsies though.
The one in the left hand corner is sooooo tie-tie! Give him to me, he shall sleep in my arms. *grabby hands*
There’s another photo that would make a great jigsaw puzzle. I keep wondering what they smell like.. is that wrong?
Am I the only one who did a double-take during the BadgerBadgerBadger video? I finally rrealized that it was their tails showing when they squat, not their badger-boy parts…..
Where do I apply to be adopted by Clan McCute?
Grumble of badgers, YES!
I’m another Wind in the Willows fan. It’s one of my favourite books these days — I’ve re-read it a couple of times, and I’ve pledged to make it an annual read. Anyways, the Badger in WitW, while kindhearted and generous, is a solitary fellow and certainly Not To Be Crossed..;. and he’s definitely an English badger.
Why do you guys do this? Every time my girlfriend comes this site she want a new pet. Now she wants a badger.
Please, please, please don’t show any cute elephants.
A grumble of badgers! Love it!
Badgers are CLEAN! They completely empty out their sett and put in fresh nesting stuff several times a day. I am SO wanting these babies, they’re adorable. I’m making this my desktop immediately…..I too love Frances, and badgers in general. (Having said that – they are the living symbol of TENACIOUS! If they grab onto something they DO. NOT. LET. GO. But they ARE good mommies and I must thank you for this wondrous picture.
Hi all, So the Yahoo Cute Overload app is no longer updating since the new improved web site. (Bummer) Can we fix that?
Cute little buggers, allright!
@KimT: You will need to update your Yahoo app with the new address of the Cute Overload RSS feed: http://cuteoverload.com/feed/
If you have a recent-model browser, you should see an RSS icon in the address bar (it may look like an orange box with white stripes). If you click that, you will probably be offered the chance to add a new instance of Cute Overload to your Yahoo page, after which you may delete the old one.
Ooh, these babies look so snorgle-ready.
I could go for a bouquet of badgers. They’re adorabuhls.
I will have the baby badger with a side of mushrooms!!!!!!
*Crickets*
They are the perfect leetle Hufflepuffs! Love the kissy one in the first pic and the pudgy middle one in the second. XD
@biscuithead: Yes, the University of Wisconsin Football, Basketball, Hockey, etc., etc., BADGERS!
@Redd: I have this picture in my head of a mama badger, shaking her fist at your truck!!
They look like pieces of striped candy!
“Bread and Jam for Frances” was my favorite childhood book! I still have my copy.
And yes, American Badgers are vicious predators. On, Wisconsin!
Given the stripeyness of the badger fur, I am going to suggest that the collective noun be “a convict of badgers.”
“We’re bustin’ out of here, see, and there’s nothin’ you screws can do about it! And don’t call me Frances! My name is Spike, see?”
Frances:
Bedtime for Frances (Trophy Picture Books)
Isn’t she sweet?
please, feeds with pictures!
Another former Frances reader here. I haven’t thought of her in years! Thanks, CO. *head tilt*
Them furry kneesocks better watch out: according to Kenneth Grahame in Wind in the Willows, “Badger exposes the weasels.”
On to collective nouns:
A bugger o’ badgers?
A goodger of badgers?
Vertical pandas?
I’ll close with my beloved Thornton Burgess and a “Digger of Badgers”
Thank you SO MUCH, NTMTOM-it was really bothering me that my CO feed to IGoogle was not updating! Now what can you do about world hunger?
all i got to say is
http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/
All I can think of is the badger song whenever I see these photos.. or any photos of badgers for that matter lol….
Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger mushroom mushroom!
To Annie not that Annie the new Annie LOLOLOL
Hugs from me Annie HEheheh I am now Kitty advntures but now I am thinking about adding originally Annie at the end HEheheh
Oh great. Now I want vanilla ice-cream with dark choc sauce. Or oreos.
Sadly the only badgers I have seen, have been dead on the side of the road. They are very shy creatures and semi nocturnal.
Weasley Weasley!
I love those eyecapsules. It gives them alot of personality, so cute!
here is the badgery part of the fight song of university football team of the Grand Old Badger State in the U.S. :
“…stand up badgers sing
forward is our driving spirit
loyal voices sing
u-rah-rah!”
what sweeties! i love the little guy being held under the arms (2nd picture) is all “Ehn!”
I grew up in the city so I’d never seen a badger except on The Wind in the Willows maybe. Then I moved out into a more woodsy area and one day at work one of the employees said, “I found a badger trapped in the stairwell!” Me being the skeptic I am said, “Are you SURE it’s a badger?” And my now husband said, “Let’s go Google badgers and you can tell us if it’s what you saw.” So he typed in “badger” and instead of hitting search, hit Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” button. Little did we know he had the speakers on his computer all the way up and seconds later the whole building was shaking to the sounds of “Badger badger badger badger MUSHROOM MUSHROOM.”
And my co-worker said, “No I don’t suppose it was a badger, it wasn’t dancing like that.”
So now every time I think badgers I think of my first exposure to the real thing and I now know from empirical evidence that badgers dance. (incidentally I loved the soccer badgers even more. “Footie footie footie footie ENGLAND ENGLAND!” Teehee.
Perhaps those are racing stripedies? Too cute.
a hufflepuff of badgers?
Word, charliewabba!
haha, I love the pop culture references!!
♥ Ah, Harry Potter references. I miss Harry. How much longer do we have until the next movie?
I love how the behbeh on the left is keesingks the behbeh in the middle on the top of the head!
I would like to officially name one Bucky… obviously
- Terri from Wisconsin
I vote for a fifth of badgers (as in 5th quarter, fifth of brandy)
Awwww. Name one Russano. Perhaps the one who’s holding up his paws in the middle of the second pic. “Nunnee!”
Our two dachshunds would show those badgers who’s boss.
Coming in a little late here, but… EEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Badgers! I heart badgers. Especially badger cubs. I was wondering when CO would feature baby badgers.
And yeah, these are European badgies. They stay cute and don’t quite have the “nasty” reputation of American badgers. They’re really much more reclusive critters.
@argyle donkeypants
in Name and wit, I think I love you.
And the badgersbadgersbadgers.com is simply just IT.
they remind me of a cross between a skunkie & and ferret… v. cutiemous!
Much thanks to NTMTOM for info on how to fix the Yahoo feed.
and who says stripes do not occur in nature??…. They are sooo cute!…..
Not just cute, but beautiful.
John Connor Press?
Shouldn’t he be fighting machines or something?
I suppose providing photos of baby badgers is also a worthy endeavour.