Introducing The Honey Badger - The Most Fearless Animal in the World!
The Honey Badger, also known as the Ratel (if you speak Afrikaans) or Mellivora capensis (if you're a scientist) is described as the "most fearless animal in the world" by the Guinness Book of Records (2002 edition).
In this lens you will find out how they have earned this tremendous title and why they are one of the most amazing creatures on the planet.
NOTE: This lens is NOT about Scottish music band "The Honey Badgers"! It is about one of god's creatures.
Lens of the Day - October 5th 2008
Quickly jump around the lens
- Quotes About Honey Badgers
- The Honey Badger on the Big Screen
- Get to Know the Honey Badger
- Honey Badgers in the News
- The Honey Badger & The Honey Guide Bird
- The Honey Badger Shop
- Ratels of the South African National Defence Force
- The Plumber's Tale
- An Easy Day for Mr Honey Badger
- The Honey Badger Friendly Initiative
- Summary
- So, what do you think about Honey Badgers?
- Honey Badger Links
- Drop me a line
Quotes About Honey Badgers
What folk think
- "Such a cute name for a ferocious animal." - Portable_ebay
- "This animal is incredible. I just wonder, will bullets kill it? " - CubicleJoe
- "It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey." - Some Iraqi
- "Crazy critters they are!" - Beempa
- "What a thug the Honey Badger is, and absolutely fearless." - ChristiannaGarrett-Martin
- "Wow those things can do some damage." - ParentCoachGTD
- "I would not want to run into a badger when he was angry!" - ArtByLinda
- "are these available as pets in the uk without a licence if so who sells them?" - micky b
The Honey Badger on the Big Screen
Moving Pictures
My favourite bits are at the following time codes:
- 00:12 - A Honey Badger chasing a big cat about five times it's size.
- 00:34 - A Honey Badger climbs to the top of a tree to attack a cobra.
- 01:30 - A Honey Badger eating larvae from an African Bee's nest ignoring multiple stings from the insect.
- 02:24 - A Honey Badger snatching food from the mouth of a snake (and afterwards killing and eating the snake).
- 02:57 - A snake poisons a Honey Badger with it's venom. The Honey Badger has a bit of a lie down, then continues on it's way!
MUST WATCH: Honey Badger-The Most Fearless Animal on Earth
Guinness Book of World Records have named this specie the most fearless animal on earth. Just watch this video to see why. This unbelievable animal can take on the deadliest animals on earth without fear. Amazing animal.
Get to Know the Honey Badger
The Facts
I was going to call this section 'Interesting Facts' but looking at some of the information, I think the word 'interesting' would be a misnomer. The bullet-list below pads out what you already know about Honey Badgers with some finer details:- Honey Badgers live in Africa and the Middle East.
- They are between 75cm and 130cm long and stand 20cm to 30cm tall. They weigh between 5.5Kg and 14Kg.
- Honey Badgers are strong and stocky with small eyes and little internal ears that fold out when needed.
- Honey Badgers can devour a whole snake in 15 minutes (lifted from Wikipedia, so I don't know how big the snake was!)
- Honey Badgers are solitary creatures.
- Honey Badgers are nocturnal during the Summer and diurnal (active day & night) during the winter.
- Honey Badgers live in a variety of dens, which includes burrows they dig themselves, robbing other animals of their homes, crevices, caves and below tree roots.
- In captivity, Honey Badgers have been known to live for over 26 years.
- Honey Badgers have such a fearsome reputation that very few animals will attack them.
- According to folklore, the Honey Badgers first target in an attack is the testicles of their opponent.
Honey Badgers in the News
A new military weapon?
Before I continue, I'd just like to mention that due to a lack of decent Honey Badger imagery in the public domain, I drew my own picture of one (above). What do you think? Great, huh?
Back in the Summer of '07, reports surfaced of strange man-eating bear-like creatures attacking the populace of Basra, Iraq.
Rumours quickly circulated that they had been released into the area by the British army to keep the locals at bay. One lady described them thus:
"It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey."
A few were captured by local farmers and identified by experts as our notorious friend, the Honey Badger.
Read the full story on the BBC News website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6295138.stm
The Honey Badger & The Honey Guide Bird
What a team!
HONEY GUIDE BIRD
Honeyguides are named for a remarkable habit seen in one or two species: they guide humans, and possibly other large mammals (such as the Honey Badger) to bee colonies. Once the mammal opens the hive and takes the honey, the bird feeds on the remaining wax and larvae. This behavior is well studied in the Greater Honeyguide
Runtime: 3:42
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The Honey Badger Shop
Large Mug
Be the envy of all your friends when you drink tea from this authentic Honey Badger mug (also supports coffee).
Price: 11.99 
Greeting Card
What better way to wish that special someone a Happy Birthday than with this authentic Honey Badger greeting card?
Price: 3.99
Postcards (Package of 8)
Wish you were here! Touch base with your acquaintances with this authentic Honey Badger postcard.
Price: 6.99
Sticker (Oval)
Whether you stick it on a door, a wall, a lamp post or yourself, you'll be letting the whole world know of you admiration for the Honey Badger with this authentic Honey Badger sticker.
Price: 3.99
Ratels of the South African National Defence Force
Did you know?
The South African National Force named their Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), the Ratel, after the Honey Badger.This is due to the Honey Badger's reputation as a ferocious fighter.
The Plumber's Tale
Fact or Drunken Drivel?
A friend of mine told me a story about Honey Badgers one drunken evening down the pub. This is his tale:A friend of his has a friend who has a brother who works in a zoo in the South of England where they have a few honey badgers. One evening, two zoo-hands visited the honey badger enclosure to feed them.
Upon arriving, they thought it strange that the honey badgers were nowhere to be seen. Usually they'd come out of their burrows at dusk to await their food however on this particular day, just an eerie silence filled the air.
Worried that the honey badgers had escaped, the more experienced member of staff entered the enclosure to investigate.
As he made his way past one of the entrances to the badger's den, as quick as a flash a honey badger popped out and gripped it's teeth around the bottom of the bloke's trousers and tried to pull him into the small hole. No sooner had this happened when the rest of the honey badgers piled out of their hiding places and joined the attack.
Fortunately, the other zoo-keeper had a tranquillizer gun and shot the honey badgers but not before the guy that had been attacked had lost two fingers and suffered multiple lacerations and bite-marks all over his body.
Is there any truth in this story?
We may never know...
An Easy Day for Mr Honey Badger
You know those days when you get up and can't be bothered to do anything...
Honey Badger in the Serengeti
The honey badger comes out of its hole, takes a walk round, and goes back in.
Runtime: 1:29
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The Honey Badger Friendly Initiative
I would really like to see a "conflict" between a bee-keeper and a Honey Badger. I'm sure the Honey Badger would win, however according to the Executive Summary
"The entirely unnecessary, illegal and inhumane killing of honey badgers by a minority of commercial beekeepers is receiving widespread and increasing media and public attention."
I'm not sure how these particular bee-keepers manage to kill Honey Badgers but I think it might be with nuclear missiles (note, this is just speculation).
Summary
Why I Think Honey Badgers Rock
Actually, not quite...there's one more story I want to share with you.
I've not seen the footage, but apparently somewhere out there on the Internet there's a fight between a leopard and Honey Badger, in which the leopard takes a WHOLE HOUR to kill the Honey Badger.
"Not so great", you may respond but when I tell you that a leopard is around four times the weight of a Honey Badger and this particular Honey Badger was a toothless, old female with one blind eye it puts it in a whole new perspective!
Before I sign off, I'd like to give a few words of warning. If you ever see a Honey Badger do not, I repeat, DO NOT mess with it.
If you do, you will die.
So, what do you think about Honey Badgers?
Drop me a line
I'd love to hear what you think about Honey Badgers, so feel free to drop me a message using the comments box below.
m3l1115225 wrote
That is a stupid picture
Posted April 23, 2009
JennyLynn86 wrote...
Honey Badgers remind me (rather disturbingly) of myself in the morning. I'm always interested in new facts about the animal kingdom, and this lens was really enjoyable. Thanks.
Posted April 17, 2009
poddys wrote...
Very nice lens, I had never heard of these. 5***** Congratulations (a bit late) on your LOTD.
Posted December 01, 2008
a_willow wrote...
Hi! Just to let you know: You are one of Graduates from September 2008 Class! :)
Posted November 06, 2008
Ges wrote...
A big thank you to everyone that left a blurb congratulating the Honey Badger lens for getting Lens of the Day. So many kind words :)
Cheers,
Ges
Posted October 10, 2008
OhMe wrote...
I just hope they stay in Africa. I sure wouldn't want to run into one anytime soon. For a young bloke just having a go at this Squidoo thing, you sure did make a great lens. Congrats on LOTD
Posted October 06, 2008
Pastiche wrote...
Tough little badgers, eh? And BRAVE! I like the teamwork with the guide bird - nature has it way over technology. We should keep a badger as a pet to stave off those cobras and hyenas. 5*s.
Posted October 06, 2008
Spook wrote...
Funnily enough I used to come across these on my farm back home and never considered them dangerous. Just shows how little I knew. Anything that can take on a snake I'm a big fan of as I'm petrified of them. Congrats on LOTD.
Posted October 06, 2008
lisadh wrote...
I will definitely steer clear of anything that can take on a cobra. Great lens! 5*
Posted October 06, 2008
aj2008 wrote...
This has some amazing films, that made me shudder at times. Well done on getting LOTD.
Posted October 06, 2008
Beas wrote...
I like honey badgers very much. Your lens provides even more information then I already knew. Thx! Fantastic hommage to the great Honey Badger!
Posted October 06, 2008
jppi_Stu wrote...
OK, I have a new motto for my life: Be like the Honey Badger! That thing doesn't take No for an answer.
Posted October 06, 2008
GrowWear wrote...
Wow! The badger is one single-minded creature! I wish I could be that focused!!
Posted October 06, 2008
CCGAL wrote...
I liked your drawing of a honey badger, and I thought it was really cute on the CafePress stuff. I hope you sell tons of them!
That was some amazing video about Honey Badgers - I had never heard of them before I visited your lens. Well done. 5*****, a fav, and a follow!
Congratulations on LOTD!
Posted October 05, 2008
CCGAL wrote...
I liked your drawing of a honey badger, and I thought it was really cute on the CafePress stuff. I hope you sell tons of them!
That was some amazing video about Honey Badgers - I had never heard of them before I visited your lens. Well done. 5*****, a fav, and a follow!
Congratulations on LOTD!
Posted October 05, 2008
KimGiancaterino wrote...
Congratulations on LOTD and Angel Blessings for Honey Badgers!
Posted October 05, 2008
Kleppins_Kitchen wrote...
Congratulations on LOTD. Really like your subject matter.
Posted October 05, 2008
football-fanatics wrote...
nice site congrats on LOTD my site not going to well =( no one goes to it=(
www.squidoo.com/corn-snakes-as-pets
Posted October 05, 2008
hale02 wrote...
Congrats on LoTD! Wow, I'd never heard of these guys before now, they're quite amazing! They look like a cross between a skunk and a wolverine :)
5**, favorited and lensrolled :)
Posted October 05, 2008
calicoskies wrote...
That is one tough badger :) Great educational lens...I had never heard of them before!
Posted October 05, 2008
Ted Vandecoevering wrote
This STUFF a lot cheaper than being a BAR FLY, which is hazardous because of RAID
Posted October 05, 2008
GreenRevolution wrote...
Cool lens! Very interesting and informative. Now I know why the honey badger is the most fearless creature in the world. I really enjoyed the videos and your stories. Great job! Congrats on making LOTD!
5 *****, favorited, and a fan
Posted October 05, 2008
Jewelsofawe wrote...
Very nice lens on honey badgers. I had never heard of them before today. Congrats on LOTD!
Posted October 05, 2008
ZBT wrote...
Well... who knew? Got it. Stay away from Honey Badgers! Congratulations on your first lens ever making LOTD - rock it, with you baaaad self! That's really awesome.
Posted October 05, 2008
ZBT wrote...
Well... who knew? Got it. Stay away from Honey Badgers! Congratulations on your first lens ever making LOTD - rock it, with you baaaad self! That's really awesome.
Posted October 05, 2008
candidadefense wrote...
Wow That was squidoofabulous! Now I know the dangers that will lure in the lonely winter nights while camping in the Serengeti!! Lovely bloody little creature. Where can I get one? Would be a great protection walking down the streets of New York cause " I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien I'm an English girl in New Yoork..."
Posted October 05, 2008
Frankster wrote...
What an amazing little creature. I especially liked the video showing the symbiotic relationship with the bird. Congrats on LotD. Well deserved indeed. 5*, favorite and I'm a FAN! Bear hugs, Frankster
Posted October 05, 2008
Frankster wrote...
What an amazing little creature. I especially liked the video showing the symbiotic relationship with the bird. Congrats on LotD. Well deserved indeed. 5*, favorite and I'm a FAN! Bear hugs, Frankster
Posted October 05, 2008
eccles1 wrote...
I had no idea about these cute little animals and if I ever see one I'll turn the other way and pray!!! congratulations on the LOTD
Posted October 05, 2008
triathlontraining wrote...
Very interesting little creature! Great job on your lens (first too!) and congrats on LotD! :)
5*
Posted October 05, 2008
enslavedbyfaeries wrote...
A truly interesting creature indeed. Congratulations on a well deserved LOTD! :)
Posted October 05, 2008
Joan4 wrote...
Congratulations on Lens of the Day! This was all new information to me! I enjoyed reading! I think I choose not to meet a honey badger! Wow!
Posted October 05, 2008
Margo_Arrowsmith wrote...
Hey congratulations on the LOTD. As I watched the videos I kept thinking of the U of Wisconsin. Now I know why they called themselves that.
Amazing animals and wonderful lens to show us that.
Posted October 05, 2008
LaraineRose wrote...
We have badgers here in Canada too but I've only seen one so far. I don't think that they go looking for a fight but ... 5 stars, favorite, lensroll and fan.
Posted October 05, 2008
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