PADRE ISLAND, Texas – When Tom Howe visited Padre Island last week, he didn’t expect to see a badger in broad daylight, much less on the beach hunting for crabs.
“It’s a very interesting place with surprises each day,” Howe told KSAT, adding that he’s started to call it “Billy the Badger” since the sighting gained traction online.
Howe saw the animal — what he says is a “bucket list” sighting — by coincidence on Tuesday, Aug. 15.
In a Facebook post, Howe said he decided to go fishing on Padre Island after battling COVID. He stopped at the 30-mile marker, but then wanted to move further south.
When he tried to start his vehicle, the battery died. Two summer rangers tried to help him jumpstart it but were unable to, he said, but he was eventually able to find the problem and start the vehicle.
He decided to leave fishing for another day and head home, but on his way back he found the badger digging on the beach. Howe said it looked like the young animal was on the hunt for crabs.
“I only recently found out there were badgers on the island, almost no one here knows that we have them,” he posted. “Badgers usually avoid people and being exposed. They have a short temper, and you really shouldn’t try to pet them if you value your arm.”
Howe posted images of the badger on Facebook and they’ve since been shared by other users and media outlets, as badgers are typically solitary.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says badgers are active in late summer when they breed.
Although they are small, they are mighty and should not be disturbed. They are fast diggers and eat small animals like squirrels and gophers but can also eat snakes and birds, TPWD says. They also burrow underground.
They are mostly common in portions of West and South Texas.
This is just one of Howe’s interesting wildlife sightings; he said he recently saw a badger in Yellowstone and he’s also seen deer on the Padre Island beach.
“Padre is a unique place,” he said. “I did a photo group this past winter on coyotes on the island. Then there are the fossils, arrowheads and shipwrecks.”
Padre Island is also home to black-tailed jackrabbits, raccoons, coyotes and the Padre Island kangaroo rat. Bobcats also live on the island but, like badgers, they are rarely encountered.
PINS is located south of Corpus Christi.
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