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Wisconsin’s nickname “The Badger State” is not due to the animal’s abundance, but rather the behavior of the first settlers who dug temporary houses near mines. The state is also known as “The Copper State” due to its copper mines and “The Dairy State” due to its thriving dairy industry and cheese production.
Unlike most other states that are named after animals, the nickname for the state of Wisconsin is not due to the animal it is named after because it is abundant within its territorial boundaries. One of Wisconsin’s state nicknames is “The Badger State.” This nickname is not a direct reference to the animals’ presence in the state. Rather, the nickname is a consequence of the behavior of the first settlers. The appellation “The Badger State” is an indirect reference to the behavior of badgers, while describing that of miners.
In the 1830s, the lead miners working in the various localities had a peculiar habit of digging houses on the slopes located near the mines. These houses were temporary in nature and intended to serve as dwelling places in the immediate vicinity of the mines. Many people thought the habit very strange, and soon the dwellings dug on the slopes were called “yew dens” while the miners who dug them were called “badgers”. This was certainly not a gratuitous appellation as it had a derisive undertone. The miners were called badgers because their act of digging caves in the ground was a little too similar to that of badgers who also dug underground dwelling places. The name soon stuck and was extended to other citizens of the state of Wisconsin and eventually the state as a whole.
Wisconsin is home to a number of copper mines where a significant amount of copper is mined each year. This led to yet another state nickname connected with mines and the mining industry. In addition to “The Badger State”, Wisconsin is also called “The Copper State”.
Another reason the state is called “The Badger State” is because the badger was officially adopted in 1957 as the official state animal of Wisconsin. A nickname that actually fits Wisconsin more than “The Badger State” is “The Dairy State.” This is because Wisconsin has a thriving dairy industry fueled by the abundance of dairy cows in the state. Wisconsin is the second largest producer of dairy products in the United States, after the state of California. Some of the dairy products include milk and cheese. The sheer amount of cheese produced in the state has led to the nickname “The Cheese State”.
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