African Honey Badger

The honey badger is a small, yet fierce mammal. They weigh in at about 24 pounds, yet even the lion and leopard tend to leave them alone. This courageous animal has loose skin that allows it to inflict wounds with both teeth and claws, even when held in the mouth of a larger predator. They are aggressive and will attack for little or no reason. In addition, they produce a very "smelly" anal discharge (similar to the North American skunk)to further reduce their attractiveness as a prey animal. If you note the color of the fur on the back, you can understand how they all but disappear when lying down. As they tend to be nocturnal, our being able to obtain these shots was a real treat.