Honey badgers are renowned for their resilience. Holding their own against lions has gained them the status of one of the toughest animals out here. But it goes further than confrontations with some of the largest and meanest predators.
A honey badgers’ diet consists of a very wide variety of prey. Insects and their larvae, feature strongly, a favourite of which is the larvae of dung beetles, hidden away in an incredibly hard, compacted dung ball. These are cracked open as a delicacy. Scorpions are disarmed by biting off the tail first and are then devoured. Spiders, locusts and centipedes fill in the rest of the invertebrate starters.
Scorpion raising its tail in self defence, the size of the tail normally indicates the threat level of the sting. The larger the sting the more serious the venom is.
Small rodents, birds and their eggs, scrub hares and some small antelope are also indulged in. And of course contributing to their name is their love for bees and the tasty, energy-rich honey. Known to raid hives for the honey and honeycomb, their tolerance of the bee stings is incredible, being stung hundreds of times doesn’t affect them as they continue to gorge themselves.
Bees compacted tightly against each other in protection of the hive. This also generated a large amount of heat keeping them warm during the colder periods. Honey badgers dream food
Over and above the stings from bees and scorpions they have a tolerance for venom from something even greater.
Many people have intense phobias of snakes – known as Ophidiophobia – one the most common ones out there. For the honey badger snakes don’t arouse any such fear; they remain undaunted, no matter which snake it is. From pythons measuring up to 4.5m to cobras, puff adders and even black mambas.
Even large snakes like this python are sometimes killed by honey badgers.
Snatching at them and tormenting them, tiring them out as the snake defends itself, and eventually biting the snake behind the head to break the spinal cord is their usual method of attack. Many a time a honey badger has been seen eating the head of a venomous snake including the venom glands.
This poses the question whether they are tolerant of the venom. For venom to have an effect it needs to be injected into the bloodstream. Cytotoxic venom affects the cell membranes, neurotoxic venom affects the nervous system and haemotoxic venom the makeup and consistency of the blood. Ingesting the venom doesn’t affect the honey badger.
On the odd occasion though, the honey badger is not quick enough to avoid being bitten. The dense mantle of fur along the back and neck protects against the bite. Their skin is very thick and has poor blood supply due to there being no blood vessels close to the surface, and so the venom is spread very slowly. The face is the only real vulnerable place to be bitten that may have any effect.
The dense mantle of fur helps to protect the honey badger from the bite of the snake as well as prevent bees from stinging them
Of all the reptilian prey puff adders appear to be high on the preferred list, being eaten regularly. However in a few instances where they had been seen feeding on puff adders, the badger keels over on top of their meal mid-way through. As it often turns out, the puff adder had most likely struck true and landed an effective bite, sending the badger into a trance of what were likely some exceptionally vivid dreams! Inevitable though, the honey badger would recover after an hour or two, getting up and finishing off the meal before trotting away.
A Puff Adder; a delicacy for a honey badger.
I have also read a story where an eccentric South African author and naturalist experimented on two different honey badgers by injecting them with large quantities of black mamba venom – “enough to kill an ox”. It sounds rather a twisted tale, and the venom was injected directly into the veins of the honey badgers. Both recovered completely within an hour.
Whether the tolerance to the venom is built up over time by exposure through successive bites or is a genetic trait since they are such tough and resilient creatures remains to be discovered, but handling venom better than almost every other animal is only one way through which they certainly deserve their reputation.
HI Sean, is there an effective predator of honey badgers? Perhaps when they are very young… they sound invincible!
Interesting honey badger facts.
They’re such fascinating creatures.
I admire these Fearless creatures. Thanks for highlighting them now and back in the video of one being rescued
Tough as nails! They both fascinate and amuse me at the same time. Thanks for the intersting blog Sean
A really interesting article that teaches a lot about honey badgers. Thanks!
Wow Sean, incredible to learn just how resilient the honey badger is!! I never realized they could withstand so much poison. A remarkable, fiesty beast. I admire even more the rescue of the badger caught in the tree roots now. 🙏💕
Sean, I loved all the photos🤗
Fascinating! How often do you guys sight one on Londolozi?
While the honey badger has a cute face, he’s definitely one little rough tough muff! .. I bet he can out do me in goosebumps upon seeing all these “other creatures!”
Wow, wow, wow! You guys are really giving some rare and interesting facts about these animals lately. A bit 0f insight on the ‘exceptionally vivid dreams’ remark…hmmmm and you would know this because… and you must be talking about L.W. My favorite author! Not something he would have written about I imagine 🙂
Wow those little guys are tough! That is crazy especially about the snakes . I would so love to observe one- even for just a little while – but they dash away before you can even get a good look.
Honey badger, he don’t give a s–t! haha
Thanks Sean, such interesting creatures, cool stuff!
Such awesome creatures! Thanks for the great article on the badger, they’re remarkable animals.
Who would have thought? Fascinating material and I certainly learned more about Honey Badgers.
honeybadger have evolved an ability or should l say anti-venom defence adaptation as they have enzymes that neutralize snake venom in that after a bite ,it temporary shuts down its entire functional mechanism the same way a generator does when power trips.That process neutralises or cancels out the venom potency.domestic pigs and mongoose also posess this inbuilt anti-venom hijack mechanism
A symbiotic relationship is partially exhibited by the honeybadger & honeyguide.Most people say the bird leads the badger to the hive , personally l would like to believe that the opposite is really what pens out.My reason being the acute senses the badger has would let it identify the hive.l stand to be corrected.Honeyguide bird would then cash in & earn an energy efficient free meal.my thoughts
Honeybadger like most other carnivores have evolved as a resource partition measure an ability to diversify their dietary preferences such that when seasonal changes pose a food preference challenge they easilly auto-switch onto plan b. This ensures nutritional needs are met all year round monday to december.
Very informative Sean. Other posters’ comments added much to my knowledge base. Hope to encounter one of these on my next visit in July.
I did not know they had such a varied diet! Honey Badgers are very cool animals.
Thank you for all the excellent information on the Honey Badger. I love learning so much about all the wildlife in and near Londolozi.
So cool!! I love these feisty little rascals!!
Hello Sean! Thank you for your article about Honey Badgers. So interesting to read! So good written! They seem to be so tuff and brave!! They are so impressive! It would be a dream to see one one day! Thank you for sharing! Beautiful pictures!
Forgot to ask you… If one should be lucky to see a Honey Bager, could they bee dangerus? Are they known to attack people? Or do they continue to do their thing….
Another question… are they always alone or do they work in teams?
I understand that when one is working as a ranger one is not afraid to animals… one love animals… But if there where one which would it be and why?
I love honey badgers! Unfortunately the only time I have seen one I got so excited that I dropped my camera in the vehicle and couldn’t get any photos. Just another reason to keep coming back 🙂
Great story Sean! Sounds like they are what some would call “bullet proof!”
awesome stuff 👍
what is the name that describes badger behaviour for temporary fainting to neutralize venom