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Case study 1

In the summer of 1982, one of the badgers at the sett that I watch got caught in a rabbit snare. It managed to pull away with the noose embedded in its neck. When I first saw this animal, I noticed that its cheeks were a reddish colour, but I did not realise why. Then I noticed that there was something around its neck. My brother Robert managed to take a photograph which confirmed the presence of the snare.

We called in the National Animal Rescue Association (NARA), and over the course of several nights, we attemped to capture the injured badger. Eventually, at around 4.00am on the morning of the fourth night, the badger was caught. It was was then taken to the veterinary surgery used by NARA in Northampton.

The badger died while it was under anaesthetic. A post mortem was then carried out, and this confirmed the extent of the animal's suffering, and the blessing that death had in fact been for the badger. The wound around the neck where the snare had cut into the badger's skin had started healing up over the snare in some places, and was abcessing in other places. The animal had septicaemia (blood poisoning). The noose had cut into the oesophagus (gullet) and was restricting the trachea (wind-pipe). Clearly, this badger had suffered for a considerable time before it died.

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Case study 2

In May 1996, members of the West Sussex Badger Protection Group found a dead badger with a twisted wire snare around its neck. The snare was attached to a loose wooden stake, and it appeared that the animal had dragged this stake for a considerable distance before it became snagged on a fence. The badger had died of strangulation.

The badger was taken away for a post mortem examination. This revealed that the animal was about 3 years old, and that it had suffered a previous injury from another snare around 9 to 12 months before. The injury had caused an infection or fracture to the breast bone, and had left a large scar and depression in that area. In its short life, this badger had been through a considerable degree of suffering on two occasions, thanks to the use of snares.

The badger had been found close to the Goodwood Estate near Chichester. It is interesting to note that in 1993, the keeper of the Goodwood Estate was convicted for shooting a badger he had caught in a snare, and another gamekeeper and two other men were convicted for digging out and stabbing to death two badgers elsewhere on the same estate. [b027]

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Picture credits

The Eurasian badger photo used at the head of this Article is © Steve Jackson. Credits for the photos used in the right-hand margin of this page for site navigation can be found on the Credits page.

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