Billie was teeny-tiny. Dehydrated. I think something
happened to her mom. - What do you
think about that? - A good samaritan came across
her running across the street, and took her to
my rehab center. She was the most precious
thing I’ve ever seen. - I started rehabbing
wildlife out of my home because there wasn’t a wildlife
center in the Texas Panhandle. - Look at that face.
- I know, he’s adorable. - After we rehabilitate Billie, our goal is
to release her back into the wild. If we can’t release her, then she’ll
definitely be loved and cared for. But the first goal was to
make sure that she was healthy. At four weeks old, Billie was on
formula and then weaned over to solids. Billie got big very quick. And then she went to the next step. Learning how to dig for food. And now she’s healthy,
and she’s a great weight. Badgers are such an independent
and aggressive animal. And so we were hoping
Billie’s instincts would kick in. As she got a little bit older,
she was pawing at her enclosure for us to get her out. - Come on.
No. Come on. - I started to let her interact, and really, you know,
stretch her legs. - Billie. But she’d want to
follow me everywhere. - You’re ridiculous. - Billie’s the neatest little badger. She’s independent, curious, fun. Billie and I formed a bond pretty fast. So when I get close to her, she
makes like this purring noise. Billie and I definitely
have a strong connection, because even when
she gets sassy with me, she’s just like a teenager
that’s talking back. Billie wanted to interact with
our rehabber’s dog, Gertie, but we try hard to make
sure our domestic animals are separated from
the animals in rehab. - Stop attacking my legs.
I’m trying to get work done. This is ridiculous. I’m going to report you to HR. - She’s just a very
playful personality. We owe it to Billie to
try everything we can to help get her back into the wild. But she began imprinting on
us around three months of age. She sees us as her source of food. So that made it very difficult for
us to get her ready for release. - You ready, mama?
It’s bath time. Oh, I bet that feels good. - We had another rehab reach out to us about a young badger
roughly the same age as Billie. And I was really hoping maybe
by getting her with another badger, it would help Billie. I was definitely optimistic that
they would both be releasable. They played a little
bit at the beginning, but there was a
little bit of aggression. And then they eventually just got to
where they were playing all the time. But when they get
tired of each other, they want to go in
their separate spaces. I mean, these are badgers. You know, they’re part
of the wolverine family. Wolverines chase off giant bears. These guys are going to
have no problem wilding up. Wrong. So now instead of having
one friendly badger, we have two friendly badgers. We started to realize that Billie was
not going to be a candidate for release, because she’s imprinted on humans. So releasing Billie back out
into the wild at this point would put her in danger. I mean, it makes me sad
that we can’t release her. But Billie is like nothing else I’ve
ever worked with in all my years. - Oh, she’s so beautiful! - She wanted to stick around. Once we realized that Billie wasn’t
going to be released back into the wild, we allowed Billie and Gertie’s
friendship to blossom. We are headed to Gertie’s house. Billie, are you ready
to play with Gertie? Hey guys. - The first thing that they
want to do is always explore. You know, what they’re
going to get into next. - I do think that Billie did pick
up some canine instincts as far as the playing fetch. - Bring it here. He’s like, “No. I’m —” [Laughing] - She’s not graceful. - She’s going to fall over. - At all. - Billie! She is very well loved. And spoiled. The world kind of revolves
around her to some extent. She loves to play in
empty bags, boxes, and her ball pit. I don’t know if she
enjoys it more or we do. It is hard to tell. Once we started to realize that Billie was
not going to be a candidate for release, the goal was to get an indoor/outdoor
enclosure built outside, where she can act
on those wild instincts. I think she’s going to have a blast. You’re so good.
I’m so proud of you. - And you would hate for an
animal that can’t be released to then not be able
to do something great. - You ready? - We started to kind of
prep her and work with her so that she can go to
a school and teach kids to respect animals
that are in the wild. She’s doing pretty
good on the harness. She’s a little bossy and likes to
tell us where she wants to go, but that’s all a
part of the process. - You’re going to go straight
for that mud, aren’t you? - Okay, I think she’s ready. - All right mama,
let’s get inside. - I don’t know how
it’s going to go. She is a badger after all. - Hi guys. - We live in a community where
badgers are seen as nuisance animals. They don’t even get a chance. The more you can
learn about wildlife, the more you can respect and
appreciate their environment. - I’m a professional
badger scratcher also. Really get in there. - Billie just had a blast. - Okay, ready? - Today we are going
to go over the plans for Billie’s new enclosure. - It looks like Billie’s already
starting to break ground. - I mean, if we can’t release
her back into the wild we owe it to Billie to have
the space that she needs. I will absolutely miss
having Billie running around, and her quirky ways. But then I’ll get to go out
and see her at any time. This is an amazing
journey for Billie, and we never saw it coming. Six months ago, if you would have
told me we got a baby badger in, I would have thought, well
those things are meaner than snot. But she’s just different, and special,
and wonderful. And now she can play
with Polly and Gertie. It’s a beautiful friendship. Her life has purpose. I never in a million years thought a badger could be
so loving as she is. But Billie shows that
every animal is different. And special. - I am so proud of you.
