It is not very often that you see a badger as they come out mainly during the night, but the badger is one of Britain’s best loved wild animals. Badgers are a real symbol of the British countryside and a protected species.
They are creatures of habit, living in a family which occupies a territory. And this territory may even include your garden. Although you might welcome a badger if it were to visit your garden, occasionally they can cause damage, particularly lto awns and plants.
They are strong animals and can damage fences and hedges very easily. Badgers are expert diggers. Their homes are underground tunnels around 250mm in diameter and known as setts.
Setts are protected by law so if you do come across any problems, make sure you take local advice first. Supervised actions can usually be taken to deal with any problems without harming badgers or other animals.
Your local badger conservation group may be able to provide further advice and information. Details of how to get in touch with this group can be obtained from the Badger Trust.
Badgers are nocturnal creatures so visits are generally unseen during the night, unless the badgers’ sett is nearby when the animals may visit early in the evening.
Food placed for other animals and birds, particularly peanuts, will attract badgers so, to avoid this, food should only be placed in the garden during daylight and not left out overnight.
Badgers are omnivorous and will eat many things. Most of the time, they search for earthworms and can eat up to 200 worms per day.
These are often easy to find in lawns with short grass and they will also eat flower bulbs, fruits and vegetables.
In dry or frosty weather badgers are unable to get at their preferred earthworm and insect larvae food so, if you wish to feed badgers in your garden, they will eat peanuts, raisins, most soft fruits and bread.
It is perhaps worth mentioning that milk or meat scraps should not be fed to badgers. But please remember, always show respect to our wild animals.
