This is the mighty honey badger, one of my favourite animals, and ignored by most visitors to Africa. Which is a shame, because the nocturnal honey badger, or ratel, is a really interesting critter. This animal is seriously tough. I mean, special forces tough. Sharon Osbourne tough, even. Honey badgers, though only the size of a small dog, have been known to see off leopard, hyaena and even lion on occasion.
Honey badgers are highly intelligent, and have been known to use tools to gain access to food. They are highly accomplished snake killers, with an iron constitution that enables them to shrug off even the bite of the notorious puff adder. In Pakistan, they have the reputation of raiding graves and removing the bodies to eat. Honey badgers have a wealth of myth surrounding them. And deservedly so.
Utterly fearless, they have a badger's tenacity and ferocity, large claws and a powerful bite. Their modus operandi is reportedly to go straight for an opponents genitals, savaging them in the first seconds of action. But should they be compromised, the skin at the back of the neck is loose, enabling them to twist around and look eye to eye with whichever misguided creature has them by the scruff of the neck, before biting and clawing again. Some books have claimed that this neck skin is tough enough to withstand shotgun pellets, but this, like so much honey badger trivia, could be just rumour and legend.
If you catch them in a bad mood, they will attack pretty much anything. I first encountered one during a peaceful morning drive in Botswana. It strolled nonchalantly round a termite mound, saw my jeep, and froze for a second before barrelling over and attacking the large metal intruder. OK, the jeep won in the end, but the badger gave a good account of itself, leaving the vehicle with several nasty scars.
Notorious for raiding safari camp kitchens by night, the mighty honey badger is treated with justified fear and respect by all locals who come into contact with it.
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