Any badger experts?

[Tobyh]

Hoping someone with a fair bit of badger experience can advise me please.

I have had "a" badger visiting regularly with 6 months or so. I say "a" because most of the time it is solo. I very occasionaly see another with it. Never more than 2.

It has now been absent for several weeks and has left me wondering...

When watching a Natural World yesterday they said that female badgers often are alot less active this time of year and live off stored fat reserves. Given that this one is often alone, is it likely to be a female? do they tend to stray off on their own? I know normally males of other species would be off establishing a new territory but wasn't sure the female would.

I have been putting out peanuts every night since I first saw it and every night they would be taken. Now even the foxes have been ignoring them..

Any ideas?

Thanks

TobyH

[eeyore]

I wouldnt charecterise myself as an expert (Stripee would be your man for that) but i know a bit about them.

Badgers dont really hibernate but they do get torpid in the winter and live more off fat reserves which would cut down their foraging

secondly they vary their diet according to time of year so it is possible that she has moved off to eat somewhere else.

I dont want to distress you but a third posibility is that she has been hit by a car - road kill is the highest single cause of badger fatality in the uk.

and then there are the even less palatable options as their are some evil getts arround who like to hurt badgers - but we won't go into that as it is the least likely option. Hopefully shes just sleeping off some fat and will reappear in the spring.

BTw - peanuts may not be the ideal food to feed - They are better than bread but a lot of people swear by cat food , mince, or meal worms - you can find a lot more info on feeding animals on here - look for posts by "words" or "Stripee" for a start

[Badger Watching Man]

Firstly - nice one on having a badger visit regularly. I'm a bit jealous!

I'm not an expert, but I've found that badgers tend to stay fairly active through the winter. Pregnant females may be more inclined to stay in the sett as they typically give birth in February, but I'd need to check up on this.

A hard frost does seem to discourage them from venturing out, perhaps because it is harder to find food such as worms.

I must admit, I'd be thinking along the same lines as Eeyore about the possibility of road accidents, especially now that the dark evenings coincide with the time of rush hour.

All I can recommend is to keep putting down the food and wait until spring. Hopefully she'll be back to her usual haunts. Who knows, there could even be the patter of some tiny feet in your garden come the summer!

[nightshade]

We get the occasional wanderer here but as eeyore says they will cover a large territory in their search for food. Unfortunately they have to cross a bypass or an 'A' road to get here or on further.
They seem to like the warmer nights just after rain for worms, here they eat feeder seeds, make a scrape and leave a calling card. the last one dug a huge hole under our back fence then got "trapped" in a neighbours garden and ripped a hole in a panel fence in its panic, not seen one since

[Tobyh]

Thanks for the replies all.

I'll remain positive and keep feeding in case it re-appears. Thankfully the roads around here are fairly quiet / small but I guess it depends on the area they cover. I'll keep checking and update If i get lucky.

TobyH

[Dogghound]

Between November and February they tend to have a period of lethargy where they stay in the sett and feed more closely to it. Also young are usually born mid january to a peak in february but also has been recorded in december which is a possibility if its a female. Mating then occurs Feb-may, but also has a rise in late summer. So it could just be down to social changes and winter lethargy that you have not seen it.

[Katja2i3]

Originally Posted by eeyore

and then there are the even less palatable options as their are some evil getts arround who like to hurt badgers - but we won't go into that as it is the least likely option.

Oh no... they are so lovely, fantastic animals. I cannot even think of it.
Unfortunately we don't have any badgers around in London
The countryside [love] ...............

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Katja2i3

Oh no... they are so lovely, fantastic animals. I cannot even think of it.
Unfortunately we don't have any badgers around in London
The countryside [love] ...............

Unfortunately so - badger baiting is big bad buisness , you frequently get organised crime involved in the betting side too which can make it very difficult to stop - I've been beaten up and shot at trying to keep diggers away from setts in the past.

on the plus side for every evil badger digging scum there are numerous people who arent like that - so it is quite unlikely that the badger in question has gone that way - much more likely that shes torpid and maybe pregnant in her sett and will be back in spring time possibly even with some little ones in tow.

and btw there probably are badgers in london - you get setts on hampstead heath, wimbledon common, on railway embankments etc plus even in some large gardens. I know for a fact that their is a sett at kew gardens - and an observation platform for badger watches - And fortunately being inside the kew security fence they are safer than average from both cars and scum.

[aeshna5]

As well as the London sites listed above, Badgers are also well known in Richmond Park + are common in this part of south-west London, where there are some lighter soils.

[Katja2i3]

Originally Posted by eeyore

Unfortunately so - badger baiting is big bad buisness , you frequently get organised crime involved in the betting side too which can make it very difficult to stop - I've been beaten up and shot at trying to keep diggers away from setts in the past.

Beaten up and shot? Sometimes I don't realize how people might act. So how did it all end up for you and for badgers at that time? I would make a hudge mess of it in the press and tv, I swear [!!!!!##$%^&*()(*&^*()*&^%&*(!!!!!]

Originally Posted by eeyore

and btw there probably are badgers in london - you get setts on hampstead heath, wimbledon common, on railway embankments etc plus even in some large gardens. I know for a fact that their is a sett at kew gardens - and an observation platform for badger watches - And fortunately being inside the kew security fence they are safer than average from both cars and scum.

Does aanybody know if there are any badgers in Victoria Park? It's my nearest park, so who knows... maybe