Use of European badger setts by invasive raccoons and other mesocarnivores in western Poland

Abstract

We describe a cases of main setts of European badger Meles meles being used by non-native raccoons Procyon lotor and raccoon dogs Nyctereutes procyonoides and native red foxes Vulpes vulpes in western Poland. From April to June 2022 and from November 2022 to mid-April 2023, we monitored the main badger setts (27 in spring and 14 in winter) using camera traps. We recorded the presence of red foxes in 63.0%, raccoon dogs in 48.1% and raccoons in 22.2% of the setts. These species were more likely to occupy badger setts in winter. The raccoon is the second invasive species after the raccoon dog to use badger setts for shelter in Poland. In four setts, we observed that two native (badger and red fox) and two non-native (raccoon and raccoon dog) mesocarnivores cohabited the same sett.