Children

RSPB Spotlight on Badgers book
James Lowen explores the lives of badgers and their communal living, feeding habits and threats to their conservation. Click here to buy: Paperback edition Kindle edition

Children are often fascinated by badgers and wildlife; and often want to see them to see just how cuddly they are. Of course, badgers aren't always totally cuddly, and growing up children are often very keen to see the reality of badgers - in tooth and claw if need be.

Do badgers attack children?

When people ask about the risks badgers pose to children we generally say none at all.

We have never heard of a badger making an attack on a child.
We have never heard of a child provoking a badger into attacking it.
We have never heard of a badger biting, scratching or jumping on a child (or a baby).
We have never heard of a child catching any wildlife disease from a badger.
We have never heard of a child having a fatal accident falling into a badger sett.

Peace of Mind

If you really want to have additional peace of mind:

Caution your children not to dig into any tunnels they find, or push their hands, feet or other children into them. A minor sneeze or snuffle from a badger deep inside the tunnel could cause the child's imagination to go into over-drive so they become terrified of the natural world.
Caution them not to put their hands into the unknown, because they might put their hands into "poo" and "urine" which may be present in the tunnel if it is used by foxes, rabbits, weasels, stoats or rats.
Follow strict hand-washing regimes before eating, if children have been playing in the garden. Badgers, like other animals (and family pets) can carry internal and external parasites, as well as harbouring wildlife diseases which can, in principle, affect humans. Using hot water and good soap/detergent on the hands is a good idea; as is removing dirt from under the fingernails.
Make sure your children have been vaccinated against the usual illnesses and infections, such as BGC (the Tuberculosis vaccine) and Tetanus (lockjaw).
If you have badger tunnels under the children's part of your garden, ask your local Badger Group if they could do a quick survey and to assess the risk of collapse if the children jump on the tunnels or ride bikes or play heavy games on them.

We do not view badgers as having a higher overall risk to children than any other wildlife species, farm animal, poultry or any family pet.

Education

In terms of activities, have a look at our Education Projects page for some ideas for things to do with children.

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