Springwatch Badger eating habits.

RAINBOWRUSSELL · #1 (**permalink**) 28-05-2009, 01:53 PM

I was a little shocked to see the shots of badgers digging up young rabbits & eating them,I'm not the cleverest of people but didn't realise they ate larger than slug prey!?!
We had a hole dug in our garden a couple of nights ago about 10" x 7" wide,did think maybe a fox or badger had thought it may be a good place to 'nest', but now wondering if it was just something digging up a nest of rats that may have been there...we had some here last year when we moved in & I have seen a single one recently!No more digging has been done.
I know it's a rose coloured veiw etc and they have to show the facts,but the rabbit eating badgers will give them all a bad name,now people will think they will be after their chickens etc...or maybe they do that already!!??

My husband was shocked too and he said he would not be able to think of badgers in the same way...are we really that naive?

alisonclair · #2 (**permalink**) 28-05-2009, 03:38 PM

They eat hedgehogs too. I love badgers but would not want one in my garden as I feed the hogs.

Maverick47 · #3 (**permalink**) 28-05-2009, 04:00 PM

I've heard of this before, its been said that Badgers will dig out young Rabbits in this way, for some reason they will decapitate them as well so if you find lots of baby Rabbit heads together its most likely the work of Badgers.

Its horrible I know and maybe we are a little naive sometimes but it seems that Badgers are opportunistic omnivores just like lots of other things.

Hope it didn't put you off your dinner

stripee · #4 (**permalink**) 28-05-2009, 04:10 PM

Rainbow Russell, badgers are opportunistic omnivores (as Maverick says too!! and according to Michael Clark book"Badgers") By far the bulk of their diet is earthworms, and they also eat beetles, crane flies, other insects, wasp and bee grubs, field voles, mice rats, moles, shrews, hedgehogs and the rabbits in the nursery "stops".
They eat carrion as well, some birds, eggs, frogs, toads, slugs, snails. Also cereals autumn fruits and fungi. Pretty much anything they find depending on the weather and availability.
They have been known to get into chicken houses, although it's not as usual as foxes. And then there are lots of other stories about their eating habits... I have both hedgehogs and badgers, but wouldn't feed hogs in case the badgers noticed.

It doesn't detract from their appeal, this is what they have evolved to do.

mbaldw · #5 (**permalink**) 28-05-2009, 06:14 PM

I was fascinated by the thermal imaging footage of the badger breaking into the rabbit stop. Rabbits do feature on a badger's menu from time-to-time, although perhaps more so in Europe than here - badgers in parts of Spain seem to have a penchant for lagomorphs. However, I think that this was the first time the behaviour had been filmed in the UK. Interesting stuff.

Cheers,
Marc.

RAINBOWRUSSELL · #6 (**permalink**) 01-06-2009, 02:07 PM

Crikey Stripee...really am dumb about these things...maybe we shouldn't have got excited when we thought we had a Brock nesting in the garden!!So are they related to my husband...he will eat anything I dish up!!!

Found a mound of 'poo' this morning..don't know if it is fox or badger..not good at these things either!!!!But it did pong!!!!

stripee · #7 (**permalink**) 01-06-2009, 08:17 PM

Badgers mostly eat hedgehogs at time of food shortage, only some are able to undo a hedgehog once it has curled up, usually learnt from their mums. Baby rabbits are food parcels for foxes, birds, stoats and weasels.

I hope you get to see a badger, although maybe it's a fox visiting as well. Their poos can help to indentify who it is

Badger Watching Man · #8 (**permalink**) 01-06-2009, 08:42 PM

Yes, if it was a mound of poo then it suggests badger, especially if it's in a small hole. Foxes tend to leave theirs on a high place, such as a tuft of grass, as a marker.

Badgers do seem to eat anything, and their poo can be very revealing - always worth a closer look (but maybe not too close).

RAINBOWRUSSELL · #9 (**permalink**) 02-06-2009, 07:02 AM

Held my nose & did try to look at it....was about the size of a small dog,quite a bit of it,no obvious bones or anything init,no slimy bits that may have been slugs etc....I can still smell it now in my mind...was in the back garden near a mole hill(1 of thousands!!!)on a patch of dirt(an ex mole hill!)I think maybe a fox,no dogs anywhere around here & not cat poo...been there done that!!
I know something a fair size comes into here even though we are fenced in but wired ones to keep the sheep out,but my areas of wild grasses have 'runs' through them.I think maybe a fox!?!