The Badger debate

The debate about badgers and tuberculosis in cattle continues to polarise opinion, not least because of the perception that the politicians have largely ignored the body politic. Arguments rage about whether the cull will work, whether the economics make sense or a vaccination programme offer a workable alternative. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of these arguments, or indeed of the views held on culling badgers, the whole debate comes down to a single question. Morally, do we have the right to dominion over the other creatures with which we share the countryside?

You might assume that the answer to such a question is, by default, ‘yes’. After all, our activities have shaped the landscape and its wildlife to meet our needs over many generations and we rarely give any thought to the consequences of everyday decisions about the food on our plates, the objects in our homes or the nature of our commute to work. We manage and exploit the land for our needs, so why should it be any different when it comes to badgers and cattle? I suspect that we view badgers differently because they are large, handsome animals, whose character we appreciate and identify with. Badgers appear in wildlife documentaries, provide literary characters and remain one of the most widely recognised of Britain’s animals. Because of this they have our affections and, as a consequence, our sympathy. Were the debate to involve something rather smaller, less attractive and, most likely, invertebrate in nature, then I suspect that we would give it very little thought.

All of us make decisions every day that mean life or death for some other creature but we probably do not stop long enough to consider this. The debate over badgers and cattle brings the question of our interactions with other creatures into focus; it should make us question how we behave more widely. How many of the people taking a stand against the cull take a rolled-up newspaper to a wasp, spray their garden plants with insecticides or trap the mice that enter their shed or garage? We should look at our dealings with the natural world, particularly those where we perceive it to intrude into our activities, and ask ourselves whether we should instead accept that we cannot have things all our own way.

Badgers show signs of activity

There are signs of activity in the wood, evidence that the local Badgers are busily engaged in their nocturnal wanderings. In some parts of the wood well-worn paths can be seen, striking across a particularly steep bank or out towards the pasture where they feed. Then there are the latrines, rough pits into which the Badgers defecate and which have an important role in social organisation and territorial demarcation. Elsewhere in the wood there is evidence of foraging activities, with ‘snuffle’ holes an indication of foraging for soil-dwelling invertebrates. A Robin’s nest has been ripped from the low bank in which it was hidden, the footprints of the culprit identifying a Badger as the predator involved. Ironically perhaps, the ripped out nest is lined with Badger hair, the Robin scavenging pieces of hair caught on a nearby fence under which the Badgers pass out of the wood and into the fields beyond.

The Badger has an interesting association with humans, in that pretty much all of us know what a Badger looks like (the image of a Badger features on the logos of numerous organisation and is used in the marketing of certain products). However, very few of us have seen a live Badger and many people live close to active Badger setts yet remain completely unaware of their existence. Badgers make frequent appearances on our television screens and you can even book yourself onto a Badger-watching wildlife break. The strong black and white face markings, the shuffling gait and the strong social ties within a group of Badgers, make them an engaging creature and it is easy to see why so many people have taken them to heart.

There is another side to our interactions with Badgers though, a darker side which has seen the Badger persecuted, baited and culled. Badgers were once persecuted because of their perceived impacts on game and fox hunting interests: the former because they opportunistically eat the young and eggs of ground-nesting birds and the latter because they supposedly compete with Foxes for access to earths and setts. They are still baited with dogs in some areas, a vile and inhumane practice that is thankfully becoming less common. Then there is the issue of Badgers and Bovine TB, which has controversially resulted in a controlled cull. Regardless of the role that Badgers may or may not play in the spread of Bovine TB, and of the need to protect the livelihoods of farmers, it does seem morally wrong to target a species purely because it has some impact on our lives. After all, such impacts are minimal compared to those we are having on the countryside and the other creatures with which we share it.

Have Badgers moved in?

The spoil heaps outside the old foxes earth have grown in size over recent weeks, a sure sign that new tenants are in place. The loose sandy-coloured soil spills from these heaps down the steep leaf-strewn slope and into the dark waters that sit silently below.  It is an odd location, positioned as it is at the top of a crumbling slope that eats its way into a small block of woodland. Well-worn paths lead away from the five different entrances, along the very top of the slope and into the wood itself. Not wanting to approach too closely, I can only scan the compacted soil of the entrances with my binoculars, but this fails to reveal a clear footprint that would identify what creature has taken ownership.

The entrances themselves have been enlarged quite considerably and the weak winter sunlight shining directly into one of these is sufficiently strong to reveal that the tunnel remains wide even as it disappears underground. Could it be that badgers have taken ownership? There have been occasional sightings from nearby over recent years, so perhaps this is a sign of a resurgent badger population, expanding into new areas. Norfolk does not hold the number of badgers seen in more southerly or westerly counties. In fact, there are relatively few active setts, though this is changing slowly for the better. Badgers prefer loose, free-draining soils for their setts and need to be near arable land or grassland where they can forage for food. Many areas within the county are too low-lying but some parts are both suitable and well-used. This particular spot is relatively free from disturbance so may have proved attractive to the badgers. Our understanding of Norfolk’s badgers is improving, mainly due to the efforts of Tony Vine and John Crouch who have championed these wonderful animals, spending many hours searching for and documenting active setts. Other records are sent to me, as county mammal recorder, and relate to badgers involved in collisions with traffic on our increasingly busy roads.

A quick search through the wood, following the obvious paths that radiate out from the potential sett, reveals evidence that bedding has been dragged towards the entrances but there is no sign of the shallow pits containing badger faeces, known as badger latrines, that I would expect to see. Since these have a social and territorial function it may be the wrong time of year to come across them. Although badgers do not undertake a true hibernation, they do reduce the levels of activity during the winter months. This suggests that I will need to return in spring in order to find out if it really is badgers who have taken up residence.