With the Nittany Lions facing a trip to Wisconsin Saturday, many fans are probably wondering, as we are around the Collegian office, what exactly is a Badger?

Is Wisconsin's Buckingham U. Badger, aka Bucky, an accurate representation?

No, Bucky looks happy and loves children.

Real badgers, are, well, U-G-L-Y, they ain't got not alibi, they ugly, oh yea, they ugly.

And they always looked pissed off. They're relentless (kind of like a wall playing tennis), and have even been known to kill snakes. So I don't know if I'd trust a real badger with a small child.

But when it comes time to party, Badgers love to dance and break it down.

After some thorough research, a badgers are short-legged and heavy-set which very strong jaws which they use to latch onto rodents, which they eat. Badgers roam the Great Plains region of North America and throughout the western United States, and south to Mexico.

Badgers prefer to inhabit large prairies and open fields and burrow underground in clans of 2-15 badgers. Badgers are fierce animals and will protect themselves and their young at all costs, even against much larger animals such as wolves, coyotes and bears. Badgers can run at up to 25-30 km per hour for short periods of time.

It's legal to hunt and trap Badgers, and they are prized for their fur. Although uncommon today, they were one of the main meat sources in the native American diet. However, badger meat is making a comeback as an exotic delicacy in some western states.

-- Wible