Brockwatch

A report of a badger seen above ground in the afternoon usually means that the badger is in trouble and needs our help. But not always...

Typically a badger seen out in the day-time is lying up in an unusual place, close to human habitation in many cases. The badger Steve was told about on the afternoon of May 14th had certainly been seen in an unusual place: a busy churchyard in Northampton. But this particular badger had entered through a gate and then run across the churchyard at great speed!

Nobody knew where the badger had gone after he or she disappeared from sight, so the chances of finding the animal to check for any injuries seemed slim. However Steve and Howard visited the site and carried out a search of the churchyard and the surrounding area, just in case. As expected, there was no sign of the runaway brock. We headed for home wondering why the badger had been out in the day time, and why the creature appeared to be training for the Olympics! We also wondered when we would receive another call about this althletic individual, as we were sure that there would be another sighting before long...

Less than two days later on the morning of May 16th, and less than two kilometres away from the churchyard, a badger was seen resting in an overgrown front garden. This was almost certainly the same badger, and once again he or she was perilously close to a very busy road.

Sue and Howard went to investigate, and found that the badger was alert and showed no sign of injury or illness. A 'rescue' was therefore out of the question, as catching a badger which does not need care or treatment would be an offence under the Protection of Badgers Act. So this street-wise urban brock was left in peace.

It seemed likely that Monday's unusual sighting had happened after the badger was disturbed while resting above ground in a garden not far from the churchyard. But which sett did this badger originate from? And why was he or she making such a perilous trek around this part of Northampton? Those questions, like so many about badgers, must remain unanswered.

This title of this rescue story was inspired by that of 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year (and winner of the 2004 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.