Brockwatch

By April 20th, Ali and Ewan were both weaned and ready for the next stage of their young lives. It was time for them to start learning to be proper wild badgers, which meant living without contact with humans. So the Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital arranged for the little badgers to be taken into care by the RSPCA's Wildlife Hospital at Stapeley Grange in Cheshire. Stapeley Grange had just the right facilities for Ali and Ewan to 'go wild'.

Brockwatch committee members and Rescue Officers Sue and Howard Hess volunteered to take the badgers to their new home, and they were joined by Steve Jackson. Arriving at the home of Angela Downham of the Wildlife Hospital, Steve, Sue and Howard found that Ali and Ewan had just been fed and were full of mischief! After a few photos and a bit of play with the cubs (which mostly took the form of Ewan trying to chew on Steve's hand or his watch!), the badgers were put into a rescue cage for their journey north. A young fox cub went too, as he was the only one at LWH, while Stapeley Grange had lots of others for him to be reared with.

At Stapeley Grange, Ali and Ewan were introduced to their new quarters. They quickly set about exploring, while Steve and Howard made the most of this last opportunity to photograph the little badgers. There was time for a few last games (more hand chewing!) too. All too soon it was time to go. Ali and Ewan had lots of adventures ahead of them, adventures they would share with other orphaned badger cubs taken in by the RSPCA. A new life in the wild was waiting for the badgers later in the year...