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Badger DeterrentsMany people would like to know what they can do to deter badgers from coming onto their land and/or causing damage or making a mess. Badgers and their setts are protected by law, so there are strict limits as to what you can do within the law. The options fall into these main areas:
Here are a list of some things that do not work very well:
Before going out to the shops and buying a load of expensive stuff, it's worth trying to understand the badger and WHY it might be coming on to your property and annoying you. About BadgersBadgers usually emerge from their underground homes around dusk and patrol their territory looking for food (and sometimes mates). In their search for food, they can do some damage, such as digging holes in lawns and flowerbeds, pulling down tall crops (such as corn) and rooting through waste bins and bin bags. Badgers will also scratch or roll up turf to get at insect pests (i.e. food) which live in the turf. Badgers may also scratch tree trunks and wooden fences to clean their claws. Badgers follow certain paths regularly - these showing a characteristic well-worn appearance with flattened vegetation. The paths are generally clean, neat and tidy; and may show their muddy footprints in wet weather. Generations of badgers may use the same paths - and they may continue to use the path, even if you build a fence across it. Badgers do their poo either in holes in the ground (called latrines) or as a marker on a territorial boundary path. Close up, you may get a smell of musky poo; but badger poo does not usually smell as strongly as fox poo. Badger latrine areas may be in use for many years - especially if they are near a main badger sett. Poo left on paths tends to be left so occasionally you might as well just pop it into a plastic bag and put that into the nearest dog poo bin. Remember, if a badger is pooing in a quiet corner of your garden; it will still poo somewhere even if it can't poo there. It might be better that the poo stays in a quiet corner where it is out of sight, to somewhere else where it might be more of a problem. |
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