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Introduction

Many people in Britain have badgers visiting them in their gardens. Some of these people take a dim view of the holes that their vistors dig when looking for food, making a latrine - or creating a sett. If you are one of those people, then Coexisting with badgers is the section for you. If however you are one of the many people who think that it is great to have badgers in your garden, and you would like to know how you can watch them, then read on.

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Are there badgers in your garden?

If you are reading this, it is probably because you know that you have badgers visiting your garden, and would like to see more of them. However, it may be that you're not sure whether or not you have badgers as guests. Perhaps you have seen holes dug in your lawn, or strange droppings in the herbaceous border, or gaps under your hedge or fence which are clearly being used by animals of some sort. If you are unsure as to the identity of the creatures that are calling, then check out the pages on Setts and field signs in the section of the Badger Pages devoted to Watching and studying the Eurasian badger, and start looking for footprints, hairs etc. If the ground isn't soft enough for footprints to show up, leave some wet sand by the gaps where animals are entering the garden. If droppings are being left, are they being deposited directly on the ground, or in pits which are covered over, or in pits and left uncovered? The likely culprits are foxes, cats and badgers respectively. Alternatively, leave some food which might tempt badgers (see below) underneath a large rock; if the rock is lifted up and the food eaten, then you very likely have badgers dropping in for a late night snack.

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Encouraging badgers in your garden

If badgers are visting your garden, then it is most likely that your patch is on one of the animals' regular foraging routes. It may be that they are finding things to eat out there, or it may be that they are finding food in your neighbours' gardens, and are just "passing through" when they visit you. Note the repeated use of terms like "foraging", "eat" and "food" - food is the key to encouraging your guests to visit more often, and to stay longer when they are with you.

If you would like the badgers to stop a little longer, and to come a little closer to the house so that you can watch them, then it is worth putting some food out for them. Not so much food that you ruin their appetite for their normal diet, but enough to make them decide that your garden is worth including on their foraging trips on a regular basis.

The type of food that you put out is important. It must appeal to the badgers, but not be harmful to them. Just like human kids (and some human adults come to that), badgers will gorge themselves on sweet things - honey, jam, cakes and so on - if they are given the opportunity. However this can be harmful to the badgers' health.

This is not to say that you can't put a few sweet things out for them, just don't overdo it. Peanuts (a source of protein and fats) and raisins / sultanas (sweet but nutritious), are a nice combination and always go down well at the sett that I watch, and in many gardens where badgers are watched too. There are also commercially available badger foods, such as that provided by CJ WildBird Foods. Peanut butter sandwiches are offered by a number of householders. However, I tend to find that when badgers are given larger items of food, they pick them up and take them away to somewhere where they feel they can eat them without other badgers stealing them. You could also try out various other kitchen scraps, but avoid foods with salt in them (and that includes salted or dry-roasted peanuts). Meat products are also best avoided, as meat can so easily be a source of infection.

Unless you know that the badgers are already coming close to the house, you may need to lay a trail of food from those parts of the garden where you know they are active, up to the spot where you will get a good view of them. Once you know that they are eating the food, reduce the length of the trail so that eventually all the food is in the watching area. If you spread the food around this area it will take the badgers longer to eat it, and this will increase your watching time; it also means that if there are two or more badgers, there shouldn't be too much squabbling.

Finally, a word of caution. Many people are thrilled to have badgers visiting their gardens, and don't mind the damage that they cause from time to time during their visits. Some people however are not so forgiving, and when lawns are devastated or when bulbs or root vegetables are dug up, or strawberries and other soft fruits are plundered, this is understandable. By feeding badgers in your garden, bear in mind that you may cause an increase in the amount of time the badgers spend in your neighbours' gardens too, and that their presence in those gardens might not be welcome. This is not just a matter of being a good neighbour, it is also a matter of having the badgers' welfare at heart. There is little to be gained from encouraging badger activity in places where it generates ill feeling or even hostility.

Picture © Steve Jackson. See the Photo File.

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Additional 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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