Badger, mole or something else?

missbiggles1

andrewf75 wrote: »

I like my lawn but I would happily sacrifice it to have badgers in the garden!

Just what I was thinking - fancy calling them pests!

Davesnave

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Just what I was thinking - fancy calling them pests!

Depends where you are and what your livelihood is.

Where I am, most of the fields are sheep and arable, so no problem, but a few miles away there's dairy. For this reason, we don't advertise the fact that badgers visit, just in case someone might like them to have a 'road accident.' (Not all badgers you see at the side of the road have been hit by cars.)

They leave our chickens alone and they don't come into the garden either, so we have no quarrel with them.

QTPie

Have had a good look around - no sign of a set, but a reasonable sized gap in the chicken wire against the fence between us and next door... Got husband to wee there.

Badgers can climb 6ft walks?!?

Aren't after anything obvious. We don't have a lot that I am aware of. The damage is mainly to tge lawn, with a bit of digging in the beds. We have some fruit, but not a lot. Plus peas, tomatoes (although no fruit yet and not doing well...), strawberries and mint in a raised bed. Rest of garden is mainly lawn, kids play equipment, trees and beds with mainly shrubs and some perennials in.

I love my lawn and spend quite a lot to keep it nice. Plus really really really don't want my son (5) and his friends standing in or touching badger poo - horrible. We don't have pets and should otherwise avoid animal poo...

Why would you want badgers in your garden? We haven't seen them, they just do damage and poo.

missbiggles1

QTPie wrote: »

Have had a good look around - no sign of a set, but a reasonable sized gap in the chicken wire against the fence between us and next door... Got husband to wee there.

Badgers can climb 6ft walks?!?

Aren't after anything obvious. We don't have a lot that I am aware of. The damage is mainly to tge lawn, with a bit of digging in the beds. We have some fruit, but not a lot. Plus peas, tomatoes (although no fruit yet and not doing well...), strawberries and mint in a raised bed. Rest of garden is mainly lawn, kids play equipment, trees and beds with mainly shrubs and some perennials in.

I love my lawn and spend quite a lot to keep it nice. Plus really really really don't want my son (5) and his friends standing in or touching badger poo - horrible. We don't have pets and should otherwise avoid animal poo...

Why would you want badgers in your garden? We haven't seen them, they just do damage and poo.

As you said the area pooed on is only 1sqm, it should be easy enough to clear up if you do it before mowing.

A lawn is just grass, badgers are wildlife.

andrewf75

QTPie wrote: »

Why would you want badgers in your garden? We haven't seen them, they just do damage and poo.

I'd ask the opposite. Why wouldn't you?

I'm sure your 5 year old would be excited to learn about them and maybe sit out quietly one evening and try and see them.

I do appreciate that wildlife can be an inconvenience, but especially when the inconvenience is very minor I just think sometimes we need to see the bigger picture.

dumpy

So you are 100% sure that no bird stops and does any droppings on your lawn, that you have no hedgehogs visiting or small mammals - voles, shrews, mice anywhere? No neighbours with cats?

Wildlife poos - everywhere......

peter_the_piper

We regularly have badgers, one climbs onto the window ledge, they never cause damage possibly because we feed them. Badgers seem to be grazers which grab a bit of food and move on to the next bit of their territory. We have more problems with the rats who like to steal brocks grub.

sheramber

http://www.badgertrust.org.uk/badgers/gardens.aspx

Badgers in gardens can be a delight, a nightly treat that householders all over the country look forward to. For others, they are at the very least unwelcome visitors, a threat to cherished pristine lawns and carefully cultivated vegetables.

Lawn Damage

Badgers find food where they can. Often, unseen and unheard they wander quietly into gardens at night, feed on the earthworms, grubs, snails and slugs they find in lawns and borders before moving on, leaving only the smallest visual sign (a snuffle hole here, a piece of scratched turf there) as visual evidence of their night-time visit.

QTPie

It is horses for courses, really.

Some people like wildlife digging up their garden, weeds all over their beds, a meadow for a lawn and a natural pond. Others dpn't.

We spend quite a lot of money keeping our lawn looking nice (over £600 a year on treatments etc) - so it is somewhat frustrating when a badger starts digging it up and pooing on it.

I am very aware that there may well be bird and other poo around, but most is not massively noticeable (I do hose the bird poo off of the decking though, when it appears).

As for 5 year olds, it really depends on the 5 year old... Some will quietly sit and watch wildlife or do colouring, others won't (and probably wont at 7, 10 or 15 either). Having sprinted around both London Zoo and the local aquarium with Jnr (as well as various things), I am pretty sure that sitting for more than 2 seconds to watch wildlife isn't his thing. Running, climbing, skiing, tennis and swimming are his things, wildlife isn't.

We live right on the edge of town: bordered by a school playing field (sports pitches, but lots of vacant land too) and extensive farmland beyond. Deterring the badger from our garden will not make him homeless.

i certainly have nothing against badgers and wouldn't harm one, but am very happy to discourage them from digging up and pooing on my lawns,