AGE, SEX, AND CONDITION AS PREDICTORS OF MOLT AND THE EFFICACY OF A NOVEL FUR-CLIP TECHNIQUE FOR INDIVIDUAL MARKING OF THE EUROPEAN BADGER (MELES-MELES)

The European badger (Meles meles) moults once a year. In our study sit e in lowland England, pelage replacement of the guard hairs and a prot racted period of fur growth (follicular anagen) occur between May and early November, with a peak in July. The precise timing of the moult d epends on the age and condition of the badger. Yearling badgers underg o moult significantly earlier than adults. Adult females that have lac tated, moult significantly later than other classes of adult, delaying the moult until autumn which corresponds to an annual period of food abundance. Lactation was significantly associated with poor condition in these badgers. It was not possible to determine whether delayed mou lt was due to poor condition per se, or due to some other physiologica l consequence of lactation, e.g. hormonal changes. We hypothesize that delay of moult in lactating/poor condition individuals has the adapti ve consequence of delaying the metabolic costs of pelage replacement f rom a time of energy deficit until a time of relative plenty. These fi ndings are of practical importance to a novel solution to the problem of individually marking badgers during observational studies. The tech nique involves clipping the dark band near the tips of the badger's gu ard hairs to reveal the white under-fur and produce patterning of the coat. The highly contrasting marks were well suited to visual identifi cation during observations under low light and infra-red illumination, and they allowed a large number of individuals (over 80 in our study) to be distinctively marked. The mark persists until the badger underg oes its single annual moult, or until three months of the active phase of fur growth have passed. Clip marks on adults made in late August h ad the greatest longevity, with 80% still visible after nine months. T hough clipping had no significant effect on body condition in our stud y site, it should be cautiously applied with individuals in poor condi tion or in cold climates.