the sins of the badger are many

[flint67 2]

the badger is a problem ,and the badger population is completely out of control .these statements are facts not opinions. I have no idea what the official badger population of this country is and i have no idea how that figure would be reached, im out with the lamp regularly and i cover quite a few thousand acres ,as the badger is nocturnal i see the year on year increases , when the badger population is estimated do they shine the fields or just watch the odd sett in the woods? I wonder what the optimum number per acre is for a healthy sustainable population , i see hundreds of badgers , honestly hundreds. Whilst the focus of attention is (quite rightly) the spread of tb in cattle , this is by no means the only problem caused by badgers. Where badgers flourish in great numbers , other wildlife can suffer , it is well documented that hedgehogs , leverets and ground nesting birds are all on the badgers menu . . Fair enough a natural situation but not when you see 25 to 30 badgers on a 300 acre farm in one night , thats just decimation of wildlife. I would like to see the badgerwatchers find a couple of setts that hold 25 to 30 badgers ,then let me know how many of them are seen out at night , cause i think its the tip of the iceberg that im seeing . When numbers are this high we know whats coming , chickens geese lambs piglets will all be fair game as will pheasant and partridge , for the badger is an equal to the fox when it comes to livestock predation. Lastly the damage to the land is extensive , i see setts which are like mini quarries , openings in the bank that you could park a washing machine in , fields and tracks undermined so badly that tractors are collapsing in them, and fresh holes dug some 20 yards out into the field so that it is dangerous and possibly illegal to keep livestock in these fields. All in all the whole situation is getting completely unmanagable.

Edited December 24, 2009 by flint67

[oggy808 24]

hi think i read somewere that the pop is approx 35000, this makes me laugh, i would think that there is more than this in pembrokshire alone !!!!

[spiderpig 39]

just remember that they are cute and cuddly and only eat worms and anone even looking at one in a bad way is almost certainly a badger baiter

[flint67 2]

ive just walked that farm and the places there are huge , im not kidding one wooded bank on a steep embankment, the sett covers about 50 or60 yards there are 11 entrances that are between 4 and 6 foot gaping caves and god knows how many 2foot wide holes the end of that 50 yards theres about 30 yards of 20foot high bank thats collapsed onto the track and when i went up the top to the field above theres a huge dip where the tractor went through last year , 8 huge holes 2 or 3 feet wide on the flat anywhere from 5 to 15 yards out into the field . . . It is a mess , thats by far the worst sett on there but there aint a hedgerow on that farm or the one next to it thats safe , theres a 3or4 hole minimum in every field. You could buy that farm for £3.5m and buy £1m of horses and you would be breaking the law if you turned those horses out in any one of your own fields , not to mention youd be endangering the horses.

[Guest jt750]

And your point of this is what ?? Anyone who has an iota of a brain and is born and bred in the country knows this already

[flint67 2]

And your point of this is what ?? Anyone who has an iota of a brain and is born and bred in the country knows this already

Its just a topic of conversation that im interested in mate , thats all . .i d be interested to hear anybody elses opinions , any point of view either in agreement or not , so long as its constructive, any other stories of 'destruction by badger'. Im also interested in the official badger population and the optimum density for a healthy population . . . .maybe later when ive got over 100guests reading this, i might get a post from a brand new member with some facts and figures. I think there could be a new angle to getting a licence for a localised cull , due to the excavation , the land is the livlihood , its unsafe to work with farm machinary ,and there are animal welfare issues for livestock , so the protection of the sett is challengable in my eyes , or in this extreme situation the land has become redundant and a livlihood has gone. I wonder if theres a precedent, as the only applications for a cull that ive heard of have been due to tb. What do you think?

[Waz 4,266]

The 'B' word! LOL.

 

They are untouchable at all costs, very bizarre situation.

 

Was reading about the wildlife presenter Chris Packham (sp!) commenting on the situation re: pandas. The reason for all the protection is due to them being the symbol for the WWF.

 

The badger does seem to be a great icon for anything twee in the countryside or animal 'luvvies' charity. & all the time numbers are going up and up with no lawful way to control numbers to protect health & livelyhood.

 

[mikeyboy 7]

i would agree they are seen in great numbers while out lamping.

[Guest porterlord]

i have never seen a badger but would like to see them. i must be looking in the wrong places.

[michaelw5753 0]

we see quite a few on my mates permission when out lamping and when he got the permission the land owner told him not to go past a certain point in the fields at any time and we've seen the badgers running in that direction so i imagine theres a good few setts there

[RicW 67]

Ho-ho it is to joke. A few people I know tried to set up a little canp site in the woods behind campus. Sadly, they put up one of their tents on a badger sett. The sight of an anti the next day having hysterics because a BLOODY GREAT BADGER had turned up in his tent about 3 in the morning and crapped on his sleeping bag was just so funny . . .

 

Larf? I nearly wet meself

 

Ric

[bob.243 8,939]

And your point of this is what ?? Anyone who has an iota of a brain and is born and bred in the country knows this already

Its just a topic of conversation that im interested in mate , thats all . .i d be interested to hear anybody elses opinions , any point of view either in agreement or not , so long as its constructive, any other stories of 'destruction by badger'. Im also interested in the official badger population and the optimum density for a healthy population . . . .maybe later when ive got over 100guests reading this, i might get a post from a brand new member with some facts and figures. I think there could be a new angle to getting a licence for a localised cull , due to the excavation , the land is the livlihood , its unsafe to work with farm machinary ,and there are animal welfare issues for livestock , so the protection of the sett is challengable in my eyes , or in this extreme situation the land has become redundant and a livlihood has gone. I wonder if theres a precedent, as the only applications for a cull that ive heard of have been due to tb. What do you think?

Nothing wrong with your topic Flint, it's very interesting.

[Bootsha 1,306]

Very interesting indeed, I suppose another thing to bear in mind is that, say the rabbit population ( that also causes great destruction in the countryside, on a smaller scale though) gets out of hand for some reason or another, it's not long before myxi rears its ugly head, but the numbers are greatly thinned out in that area for a season or two. Trouble is with pigs, there doesn't seem to be a desease that will kill them, yes they spread desease, and has now been scientifically proven I beleive, but bugger all kills them, so the population rolls onward and upward. The cost of TB to the countryside is astronomic, not only financially to farmers who have whole herds slaughtered, but emotionally as well, bearing in mind that some of these herds have taken many generations to get to a high enough standard to be at the top of their game. Financial compensation is a very short term remedy for the desease they spread. Perhaps this proposed badger cull in West Wales will highlight this to a lot of the Govt who have their heads in the sand ( or some other unatural orifice). Good thread though.

 

Regards

 

B

[arnieboy 93]

And your point of this is what ?? Anyone who has an iota of a brain and is born and bred in the country knows this already

Its just a topic of conversation that im interested in mate , thats all . .i d be interested to hear anybody elses opinions , any point of view either in agreement or not , so long as its constructive, any other stories of 'destruction by badger'. Im also interested in the official badger population and the optimum density for a healthy population . . . .maybe later when ive got over 100guests reading this, i might get a post from a brand new member with some facts and figures. I think there could be a new angle to getting a licence for a localised cull , due to the excavation , the land is the livlihood , its unsafe to work with farm machinary ,and there are animal welfare issues for livestock , so the protection of the sett is challengable in my eyes , or in this extreme situation the land has become redundant and a livlihood has gone. I wonder if theres a precedent, as the only applications for a cull that ive heard of have been due to tb. What do you think?

farmers should be able to deal with these problems its such a sad state of affairs when a group of animals are so protected that they breed into destructive disease ridden vermin