The 49ers’ persona has been identified, at least in terms of how they have forced a league-high 35 turnovers.

They have patterned themselves after the honey badger, dubbed nature’s most fearless animal by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The 49ers recently saw a viral video of the honey badger at work. A beehive was invaded for its larvae. A cobra snake was consumed, regardless of venom. Holes were trenched to nab mice.

“Honey badger don’t care. … It just takes what it wants,” said a narrator in the video that’s generated nearly 28 million views on YouTube this year.

A couple weeks ago, the 49ers (11-3) spliced highlights from this NFC West-winning season into the honey badger video, making for a rousing film session at a team meeting.

That explains why coach Jim Harbaugh referred to the honey badger in his locker room address after Monday night’s 20-3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, a victory overshadowed by two power outages at Candlestick Park.

“Honey badger don’t care about no lights,” Harbaugh said, as captured by video on the 49ers website.

This “honey badger” business isn’t new to sports. It became the nickname of LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu en route to his fifth-place finish in this year’s Heisman Trophy voting.

After Harbaugh’s honey badger drop, he resumed his locker-room speech with the 49ers’ more renown catchphrase: “Let me ask you a question, who could possibly have it any better than us?” A team-wide chorus responded: “Nobody!”

And nobody has a better turnover differential than the 49ers at plus-25 (10 turnovers, 35 takeaways). Their closest competitor is the team they’re chasing for the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed, the Green Bay Packers, who have a plus-20 margin (12 turnovers, 32 takeaways).

Although the 49ers have forced the league’s most turnovers, their host Saturday, the Seattle Seahawks, have tallied a league-high 18 since Week 10. The 49ers have the second-most, with 16 turnovers in that six-game span.

On Tuesday in the 49ers’ locker room, footballs sat in the lockers of cornerback Tarell Brown and safety Dashon Goldson, footballs they intercepted against the Steelers. Carlos Rogers recorded the first of Monday night’s three interceptions, but he threw that ball into the crowd.

Rogers has a team-high six interceptions this season, and he hasn’t kept any of those footballs as mementos. He instead prefers a team-issued game ball that Harbaugh distributes as weekly rewards.

In a season bursting with run-defense records, the 49ers aren’t near a record pace for forcing turnovers. Their respectable tally of 35 takeaways is far off the standards set by the 1961 San Diego Chargers (66), 1984 Seahawks (63) and 1983 Washington Redskins (61).

The 49ers’ 21 interceptions are their most since 2003, when they tallied 23. The franchise record is 39 interceptions in 1986. Although they have recovered a league-high 14 fumbles by their opponents, the 49ers’ record is 27, in 1978.

It’s safe to say these 49ers won’t be duplicating the efforts of the franchise’s first Super Bowl team, a 1981 squad that forced 48 turnovers (27 interceptions, 21 fumble recoveries). Nor will these 49ers match the 1983 Redskins’ plus-43 turnover differential.

But defensive backs have stayed after practice to catch balls thrown by quarterbacks and a machine. Linebackers have done turnover drills before practice. The results are showing.

“It’s remarkable,” Rogers said of the turnover tally. “I just saw that we lead the league. It’s a credit to the players and the coaches who’ve put us in the right situations.

“And we’re hanging on to the ball.”

So is the 49ers’ offense. That unit’s persona: ball hog. The 49ers have committed only 10 turnovers, including Alex Smith’s five interceptions and two lost fumbles. Harbaugh said Smith has been “uncanny in the pocket” in holding on to the ball despite being sacked a league-high 39 times.

But the honey badger probably doesn’t care about all that.

For more on the 49ers, see Cam Inman’s Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers.