Badgers!!

Finally got Bis out for a long walk after the fireworks had quietened down (thank god!)...

Running around the field like loonies and out of nowhere not ONE, not TWO but THREE humongous BADGERS come running at us from the road!!! I think I actually squealed!! Biscuit obviously decided it would be a good idea to fight them and almost got out of her head collar, I on the other hand had her hooked under my arm running as fast in the opposite direction as I could!

The moral of the story: You don't * with badgers!

So it was quite a relaxed night stroll

Badgers are quite vicious apparently!

They're bloody horrible lol!! Used to get them on the farm a lot.. they're really nasty if they feel threatened.. My legs were like jelly haha!

Rachel33 wrote:
The moral of the story: You don't * with badgers!

No, don't!

Hahaha yeah you def don't go up against a badger!!

Thankfully never head the pleasure...he has however tried mounting a female fox. Either it was ill or very used to dogs as they fight to death...trust him.

Definately don't mess with a badger

When I lived in Hay we used to come across a lot of them. Other than keeping Bandit away from them, we never had any trouble! I like them!

I've heard people say badgers are vicious but they look so cute

Evil badgers are...theres a reason he was a grumpy tw*t in wind in the willows

I wouldn't say they're cute, but all the ones I've come across have moved away from us rather than give us any problem. Obviously they won't want a dog near them, but that's understandable - they're wild carnivores.

They use to try and eat our rabbits when we had two. We bomb proofed the rabbit run with chicken wire so they rabbits couldnt dig out and nothing could dig in as we use to live in the countryside. I always thought they were cute, and didnt know they could run Just seeing a picture of you and biscult under your arm and they do weight dont they running away from 3 badgers (Sorry)

[quote="PygmyParrot"]Evil badgers are...theres a reason he was a grumpy tw*t in wind in the willows [/quote

]

yea apparently back in the days when dogfighting was widespread, a dog was put to a badger as the ultimate test of gameness. feirce animals

derbystaff wrote:yea apparently back in the days when dogfighting was widespread, a dog was put to a badger as the ultimate test of gameness. feirce animals

That has suprised me, I didnt know that, I always thought they were so shy and so slow.

no believe me a badger is more than a match for a dog and dog against 3 badgers would stand little chance getting away alive .
ovoiusly you knew this and done the only thing you sensible could .
i would actually report this insedent to the rspca as normally badgers would go and hide these 3 sound like they were in attack mode which could be putting other pets in the area at risk

Sounds like they have formed a badger gang I would have crapped myself I think.

I have never seen a badger that is alive, seen plenty of dead ones though, sadly on the side of roads. They can be quite ferocious though that is true. I would love to see one alive.

Badgers in da hood

I've never actually seen a live badger either, more's the pity, just squashed on the side of the road as Kathy says.

But I do know they are fierce and their claws are lethal. Just stay away from them and cherish them as part of our English heritage. Especially as:-

we won't have them much longer anyway, if "They" get their way. Badgers will be shot to protect our dairy cattle from TB. And we are not allowed to immunise our cattle against TB (unlike our children) by the EU.

end of political rant - promise.

Staffy lover wrote:That has suprised me, I didnt know that, I always thought they were so shy and so slow.

They can be surprisingly fast, but clumsy - they waddle very quickly! They are shy, though, & normally will disappear before you even know they're there.

bigwazza wrote: i would actually report this insedent to the rspca as normally badgers would go and hide these 3 sound like they were in attack mode which could be putting other pets in the area at risk

I doubt it, Wazza - I think they were just heading that way & it looked as though they were setting up a chase. Badgers are not normally aggressive in that way, unless they are cornered - then they can do very serious damage!

Interesting little snippet....

Badgers will attack if they are provoked or threatened but they do not instigate the aggression. Instead, they are shy animals that are actually seldom seen because if they scent or see people, they will hide until they have gone. Being nocturnal animals makes this seclusion easier for them.

A few years ago, there were reports of a badger called Boris who indiscriminately attacked people, making people fear badgers and describe them as being dangerous. In fact, Boris had been brought up in captivity since a cub and so had no natural fear of people. Somebody ‘rescued’ him from the wildlife centre he was in and so he was in an alien situation. Instead of having a natural instinct to hide from people, he would have attacked because he felt threatened. This was an isolated incident and brought about because of Boris’ totally unfamiliar experiences.

Intresting reading caryll. Never heard of that before. Always knew the were very strong creatures and elusive. If youve ever seen a set and the damage around it you can tell they have strong jaws. Personaly i wouldnt like to get on wrong side of one but thankfully the have a healthy suspision of humans

No it's okay, I'm quite sure they weren't going to eat us it was just the size of them and the direction that they were (as Caryll said) "waddling" in haha! I've got a lot of respect for badgers, would never harm one and came into contact with a lot of them when I was living in Devon & Cornwall. My lurcher bitch came face to face with one, one night when we were out lamping, seriously thought my heart stopped, lucky she's fast cause he would have had her head off!!! They'd prefer to run away in general, but they really not nice if you're on the wrong side of them!

axam102 wrote:Intresting reading caryll. Never heard of that before. Always knew the were very strong creatures and elusive. If youve ever seen a set and the damage around it you can tell they have strong jaws. Personaly i wouldnt like to get on wrong side of one but thankfully the have a healthy suspision of humans

Believe it or not, the damage outside a sett is almost exclusively caused by their claws! Yes, their jaws are strong (same as all carnivores) but their claws are deadly & they're what they use mostly to defend themselves!

I used to work terriers many years ago mainly to rabbits i also used to shift fox for farmers who were losing livestock to them , i never sent any of my dogs to Badger or Brock as they are known in the countryside, but i knew some terrier men who did and for me it was as cruel on the dog as it was on the Badger , i have seen terriers with half their muzzle either missing or smashed to bits from Badger bites , stay away from Brock is my advice he is one powerfull wild animal .

mickgill wrote: i have seen terriers with half their muzzle either missing or smashed to bits from Badger bites , stay away from Brock is my advice he is one powerfull wild animal .

Believe it or not, most of the damage is caused by the front claws!

Yes, they are formiddable animals, but they are not aggressive unless disturbed/challenged/threatened.

Caryll wrote:

mickgill wrote: i have seen terriers with half their muzzle either missing or smashed to bits from Badger bites , stay away from Brock is my advice he is one powerfull wild animal .

Believe it or not, most of the damage is caused by the front claws!

Yes, they are formiddable animals, but they are not aggressive unless disturbed/challenged/threatened.

That's correct Caryll they dig those huge sets out with those claws, some run very deep with chambers in them, many a terrier has been sent down a Badger set never to see the light of day again .