Badgers

[Navara]

Hi, for years we’ve been getting hogs in the garden and have slowly seen an increase in their numbers which is great. I put a small amount of food out each night but our garden is pretty wild with plenty of natural habitats for all the good stuff hogs love to eat. We also have a couple of regular foxes visiting us every night who usually just have a mooch around and a quick drink, they never bother with the hogs. However the local badgers have just discovered our garden and last night we had our first badgers visit, which unfortunately didn’t end well for one of the hogs. I understand that badgers will kill hogs but don’t actively hunt them (I’m keen to learn more about this behaviour). My question is, I know I can’t pick and choose wildlife guests and nature is nature, but does anyone know of any way to deter badgers without putting off the hogs? For context we are on a bog standard housing estate very close to a river and the badgers have a sett on the river bank, where they’ve been for a few years.

[Nic]

Hi Navara

I’m not sure you would be able to deter the badgers and still encourage the hogs. You might find, anyway, that the hogs vote with their feet and give areas where badgers frequent a wide berth. They sometimes do, apparently. In which case, you might have to make do with badgers instead – they are fascinating animals as well.

If there is good and sufficient habitat it would be less of a problem. Badgers and hedgehogs have co-existed for a very long time – before we humans depleted the quantity and quality of suitable habitats for them both. Encouraging others to have wildlife friendly gardens, as well, might help both species.

I came across this https://www.badgertrust.org.uk/post/badgers-and-hedgehogs-separating-fact-from-fiction-in-british-native-wildlife which you might find interesting.

Good luck. I hope things work out ok one way or another.

[Navara]

Hi Nic,

Thanks for your reply.

After reading up and watching over the last few nights we’ve accepted Boris, and after a couple of nights away the hogs are now back. So far all seems ok, and one of the hogs has been using the hog house again.

I’ve stopped putting food out, although might start to sprinkle a small amount on the lawn in drier periods over the summer, depending on how things go with them. I won’t use food bowls again so they don’t congregate in one spot, although we do have several water bowls around the garden which are very popular.

You’re right, badgers are very fascinating and interesting to watch, the past week has been an eye opener.

Jane

[Echinoserious]

Nic, I have a question about badgers you might be able to answer. I know that hedgehogs are badger prey, they’re in decline and badgers are being culled, but I also know that they’re not being culled for conservation purposes, and the cull has been shown to be ineffective at reducing bovine TB and to be damaging ecosystems. Stopping the harm that’s being caused by the cull would be a good thing at least for most of the ecosystem, but is there a chance it could make things worse for hedgehogs? Or can this feasibly be sufficiently mitigated with rewilding?

[Author]

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