Badgers and their setts are legally protected from intentional cruelty, such as badger baiting, and from the results of lawful human activities, such as building developments. The protective legislation has provided a useful tool in deterring the abuse of badgers and in prosecuting those who continue to break the law.
Can I fill in a disused badger sett?
If it can be proved (i.e. by the badger consultant, the badger group or some-one with suitable badger expertise) that a badger sett is long disused and empty, it can be filled in and destroyed without a licence.
How do you get rid of a badger sett?
4) Use Natural repellents
- Scotch Bonnet Chilli Peppers – scatter crushed scotch bonnet chilli peppers around the garden, especially near entrances. …
- Citronella Oil – badgers really dislike the smell of citronella. …
- Male Urine – not the most desirable repellent to use, but it does work.
What do you do if you find a badger sett?
If you do find a badger sett, a telephone call to your local Badger Group (or the Badger Trust) would not go amiss. You might have discovered a new sett that they can help protect or monitor; and they may be able to use the information to prevent or mitigate the effects of any undesirable developments.
How far do badgers travel from their setts?
IRELAND – Badgers are capable of travelling distances of over 20 kilometres, Europe’s largest ever badger study has revealed. A four year, 963 badger study assessed badger travel across a 755 square kilometre area of County Kilkenny finding badgers travelled an average of 2.6 km from their sets.
Can you dig up a badger sett?
Badgers could excavate a sett. Badgers are large animals up to a metre long and often weighing more than 12 kilograms. … Occasionally badgers may dig a latrine in your garden. A latrine is usually a small excavation about 150mm deep and about as wide, in which the badgers deposit their dung.
How deep is a badger sett?
Tunnels can be four metres deep, though most are less than one metre underground and often follow surface contours. This helps with air circulation, while ventilation holes sometimes connect a tunnel to the surface. Badgers like to dig their setts where the ground is easy to dig.
How much is a badger licence?
There is no fee payable for this type of licence.
Can I remove a badger sett from my garden?
Deterring badgers from your garden
The most humane and long-term solution to discourage badgers is to remove or prevent access to what attracts them, whether this is food or shelter, but bear in mind that badgers and their setts are protected by law.
How can you tell if a badger sett is active?
There are several signs a sett may be active:
- Smooth polished sides around any entrance holes from repeated use;
- Sometimes evidence of fresh bedding, for example grass, near the sett entrance;
- Freshly excavated soil heaps around entrance holes;
- Evidence of runs radiating out from entrance holes;
Is badger baiting legal?
Badger baiting was first made illegal in 1835 under the Cruelty to Animals Act. Badgers have since been granted further protection by the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. Badger persecution has been classified as a priority since 2009 by the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
How do I get rid of badgers UK?
Male urine and lion manure are good deterrents. The main reason a badger may visit your garden is to look for food. Badgers dislike the smell of Scotch bonnet peppers and citronella oil. You can deter badgers by installing infrared triggered LED lights or scarers with glowing eyes.
Are badgers bad for the environment?
Badgers may harm the environment, for example, they can damage crops and fruit gardens. They are also known for poultry killings and for damaging fences, gardens, and properties due to digging. Badgers are also transmitters of tuberculosis and may transmit the disease to dairy animals.
What is badger main sett?
Badgers live in a system of interconnected tunnels and chambers called a sett. Every badger clan has one main sett, which is used for breeding and is usually relatively large. Well-established setts have been excavated by several generations of badgers, with some setts known to be occupied for centuries.
How many badgers live in a sett?
Badgers can live in social groups of two to 23 adults, but usually around six. These defend an area around their main sett as a territory. Territories may be as small as 30ha, but are up to 150ha or more in the Highlands. They leave their faeces in collections of shallow pits, which in aggregate are called latrines.
Why do badgers live in setts?
Where do badgers live? Badgers live in setts – underground burrows which they dig with their powerful, long claws. The main sett is the headquarters where the badgers live for most of the year and it’s where they rear their young. Badgers practice good housekeeping, to prevent a build-up of fleas and lice.
How old are badger setts?
Badgers setts
Such elaborate setts can take many years to create and are passed down through generations – some setts can be more than 100 years old. These are the family homes, used, maintained and enlarged at will by generations of the same social group.
How do you stop badgers Jeyes fluid?
Buy a bottle of Jeyes Fluid, soak old rags or cloths in it, drape or fix the rags near the entry points you think they’re using – they hate the smell, classic gardener’s solution to the problem. You will need to refresh the cloths occasionally with the Fluid.
What time do badgers come out at night?
However, the overall picture is that badgers generally leave the sett around dusk and return before sunrise when it begins to get light. Badgers do not hibernate but are less active during the winter.
Will an electric fence deter badgers?
An electric fence for badgers will keep them out. However, as a badger’s thick hair acts as a good insulator, it is essential to have a strong energiser and the right wire or polywire to ensure they feel the impact of an electric fence.
Do badgers take the same route every night?
Badgers are well-known to be creatures of habit, and will follow the same route night after night and even generation after generation until the vegetation is worn away and quite deep paths are formed. The urge to follow paths is obviously very strong. … Badger paths then, are not visual paths, but scent paths.
How do I encourage badgers into my garden?
Feeding badgers:
- Use wet cat or dog food, or specialist badger food.
- Provide some fruits, such as apples, plums or pears, and nuts, such as unsalted peanuts or brazils.
- Leave out root vegetables like carrots, along with some cooked potato.
Do badgers feed every night?
Badgers are nocturnal: they sleep during the day and are active at night. They emerge from their sett in the evening to play, socialise and forage. Unfortunately for the badger watcher they don’t come out at exactly the same time every evening.