North Riding Badger Group

Anne Moor, 34 Pinewood Drive, Scarborough, YO12 5JP
Telephone: 01723 366516

I have created a text version of the membership form from the leaflet which you can print out and complete if you would like to join the group (prices correct for 2005).

Contact details for the group can also be found on the following web pages, although I do not know if they are up to date - 

   Badger Trust

   The Animal Contacts Directory

   Badgerland


Finally, there is also a news story from the Scarborough Evening News which has a phone number for Mike Moor.

Introduction
The badger (Meles meles) is probably Britain's most easily recognisable and best loved mammal but the only sightings the majority of us will have is on our TV screens or the pathetic carcass lying by the roadside, another victim of the motor vehicle.  He is by nature a very retiring creature and will shy away from his only enemy, man.  It is probably for this reason that he only emerges at night from his sett, an underground labyrinth of interconnecting tunnels where he lives in a social group with other badgers.

We are fortunate that badgers are still reasonably common in the area covered by this Group, but in other parts of the County - notably South Yorkshire - their numbers have been drastically reduced by illegal persecution.

Natural History
The male badger (boar) can average 80cm in length (30 inches) and weigh around 16kg (351lb), the sow tending to be slightly smaller.  They are omnivorous feeders, the bulk of their diet when available being earthworms.  Badgers are however opportunist in their feeding habits rather than hunters and they will also eat insects, small mammals, slugs, fruit in season, cereals and fleshy roots such as bluebell bulbs.

The preferred location of their setts is on the edge of woodland on sloping ground with pasture for foraging and nearby water supply.  The sett comprises characteristic holes leading to interconnecting tunnels and sleeping chambers and are easily recognised by the large spoilbanks excavated over many generations.  The presence of badgers at a sett can be shown by other telltale signs such as their footprints in the fresh earth or mud, badger hairs around the entrance or stuck on nearby fences, scratch marks on trees, nearby dung pits and their well used paths.  The badger is a very clean animal and lines its sleeping chamber with dead grass or bracken.  This is brought out when soiled and can be seen outside the entrance, particularly so when there are cubs.

Badgers can mate throughout most of the year after the cubs have been born in February.  The fertilised egg however does not implant into the uterus straight away but is delayed until the sow's chemistry tells it the time is right, usually in December with the cubs being born early in the year, emerging from the sett at around eight weeks old in April with the summer ahead for their development.

Their natural lifespan is up to 15 years, but due to the immense pressures from man's persecution their average life is only around three years.

Persecution
It is estimated that there are around 250,000 badgers in mainland Britain, averaging about six per social group.  Over half the cubs and a third of adults are killed or die each year, and around 47,000 of these deaths are by motor vehicle.

More importantly, in excess of 9,000 badgers are killed each year by illegal digging and baiting, this sickening so called 'sport' still has many bloodthirsty followers.  At one time it was thought that this problem was only serious in areas like South Yorkshire and South Wales and did not represent a conservation threat to badgers nationally.  Sadly this is no longer the case.  In the worst areas for badger digging the 'local' badger population has become so reduced that diggers now travel great distances to indulge in their 'sport'.  We have evidence of diggers travelling 100 miles to reach a sett which has, hitherto, been considered safe from violation.  As a result, badgers everywhere are under threat.

Badger diggers send trained terriers into the badger's sett to corner it, the position being located by special bleeper collars fitted to the terriers.  The men dig through the roof of the sett, expose the badger and remove it, usually to be bludgeoned to death with a spade.  The badger may however be baited at the sett or taken away for further 'sport'.  The badger is forced to defend itself against a succession of dogs in a specially constructed pit.  The badger's strength and endurance ensures a protracted fight and so he may have a leg or jaw broken and be shackled to give the dogs a better chance.  Both dogs and badger are horribly injured in a battle lasting several hours with heavy betting taking place on the endurance of the dogs.  The badger always suffers the same fate, death.  Badger baiting has been illegal for many years but it still has its bloodthirsty followers.

As if being dug out and baited is not enough for one species, badgers are also subject to illegal poisoning gassing, snaring, killing by lurcher dogs and are also losing their habitat due to urban sprawl and intensification of agriculture.

The Law
The protection of Badgers Act 1992 gives far reaching protection to the badger.  It is illegal to -

1. Wilfully kill, injure or take a badger or attempt to do so.
2. Have in one's possesion a dead badger or any part thereof.
3. Cruelly ill-treat a badger.
4. Dig for a badger.
5. Damage a badger sett; destroy a badger sett; obstruct access to a badger sett; cause a dog to enter a badger sett; or disturb a badger when it is occupying a badger sett.
6. Sell or offer for sale or have possession of a live badger (their are exceptions where a sick or injured badger may receive properly supervised treatment prior to rehabilitation in the wild).

Persons found guilty of these offences are liable to a heavy fine of up to £5,000 and a prison sentence of up to six months.

What You Can Do
If you are suspicious of anybody at a known sett, eg if they have terrier dogs, spades etc, call the police immediately on 999.  If the location is not obvious, arrange to meet the police nearby.  It is most unwise to approach badger diggers and you should observe from a distance while the police arrive, taking descriptions of men, their dogs, equipment (spades, nets, sacks) and note what they are doing.  Your information could be vital in bringing these villains to trial.

If diggers are caught the police will want to know if the sett has been registered and if there are any sett records (badger diggers will invariably say they were after foxes or lost their dog accidentally down the sett).  If you know a sett it is advisable to register it with the local badger group on a strictly confidential basis and keep regular records of the presence of badgers to assist any future court case should the sett be violated.  Do not think your sett is safe, there is no safe sett.

If you find a casualty on the roadside please contact the Group but beware of handling an injured badger.  We have contacts who are skilled in treating and looking after recuperating badgers.  Where badgers are being regularly killed on a stretch of road, we may be able to advise on measures to reduce the accidents.

Problems With Badgers
We accept that the badger's habits may occasionally conflict with land usage and we would ask all landowners if they do have problems to contact the Group for advice about fencing, badger gates, crop damage etc.  Fortunately, times are changing and most landowners and gamekeepers now welcome badgers as friends doing far more good than harm.

About The Group
The North Riding Badger Group covers the County of North Yorkshire from the East Coast between Filey and Whitby to the outskirts of York and the edge of the Hambleton Hills in the West.  We are concerned about all forms of badger persecution, their welfare and maintenance of habitat.

We are a voluntary Group with no paid officials and we are members of the Badger Trust.  We will give free advice and talks to any interested bodies or organisations.

Membership of the Group is open to all who share our aims and members receive regular newsletters.