Grey Hawk Posted June 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Its worth looking at any grassy areas near the hole. If badgers are present a tell tell sign is turf that is rolled back. They do this when grubbing about for worms etc. If it does turn out to be badgers, my advice would be to tell nobody. Where I live if, you mention this to people and word gets out then the boys with the pit bulls turn up pretty smartish and dig them out. &*^$%s !! Leeboy Hi mate thanks for the reply, the thing is that the hole is next to a gravel drive way and go's under a wire fence into a ploughed field. I dont have access to this field and don't want to get done for armed tresspass. If I ever find out what is in said hole then your quite right. I will keep my gob shut because I definatley don't want an army of elizibeth duke golded up blokes with pit bulls arriving. I will check around the land I have access to to see if any grubbing has occurred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magman Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 bag of sand around the entrance night time check footprints in mornin , sorted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadeye ive Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 There is a sett on one of my patches ............The entrance hole is so big that on many a occasion a full size lamb as fell into it due to it's location and had to be dragged out ..............Even with the grass growing like it is the soil leading up to the entrance is bare and void of any growth Good idea magman but my advice echos the previous replies and that's keep stumm and leave well alone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Hawk Posted June 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 HI Guys, somr great advice for identifying if a badger is indeed the owner of this hole. I'm not going to go as far as to put sand down. Thats up to the owner of the land, after all its not my drive thats being excavated. I will go down one evening an just sit quetly for a few hours with my son and maybe get some photo's. I really wanted to know if it is a badger could it be re-located? I appricate all of your thoughts and comments but as I'm not going to take the inquiry any further I won't post any more on the subject. Unless I do manage to get some photo's. Nice one guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 And whatever you do dont shoot anywhere near the sett, as some goody two shoes will claim they saw you shooting at brock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Hi, I hate the things, they dig holes into the chicken pen and they kill all the chickens. They carry TB and infect cattle as well as damaging the gardens. THEY SHOULD NOT BE PROTECTED. FM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Hi, I hate the things, they dig holes into the chicken pen and they kill all the chickens. They carry TB and infect cattle as well as damaging the gardens. THEY SHOULD NOT BE PROTECTED. FM Many folks over here think the same way as you FM Its the number one cause of TB in this country and its been proven that badgers do spread and carry it. I know this from seeing several farms going down with TB in cattle, over here. Its very distressing to see their whole lively hood being taken away from them. Frank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeboy Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Its the number one cause of TB in this country and its been proven that badgers do spread and carry it. I know this from seeing several farms going down with TB in cattle, over here. Its very distressing to see their whole lively hood being taken away from them. Frank. It has not been proven conclusively that badgers are responsible for TB in cattle. Yes thay carry it buty so do Deer and i'm sure other animals. It has been proven however that culling them has no effect other than to drive infected badgers further afield and therefore making it possible to spread it to places that were free of it. I have worked on farms that have had TB reactors and no badgers for miles. I now manage a farm producing expensive pedegree cattle. We have seen the odd badger about but I'm certainly not worried. Think yourselves lucky if you see a badger.......99% of the population never have or ever will !! Leeboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Hi, I don't consder myself lucky when I find they have killed all my chickens or dug under the fences letting the foxes in and their sets are only a 100 yards away from our birds. I wish more people would see them and realise that they are not cute fluffy and harmless. I think that controlled badger digging not baiting, but digging should be brought back as there are too many badgers about. You said that culling drives infected badgers further afield and that they can spread it there as well but previously you had typed there is no proof they spread it to cattle. Sorry if I have interpreted it wrong. FM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 My Neighbour Farms Cattle. We have badger sets on our bit of land as he does on his lot of land. Just to put things into perspective,although I enjoy shooting/vermin control ,call it what you like. I like to consider myself a country man. As such I actualy enjoy watching Bunnies,Badgers Deer etc etc even if the opportunity or lawfall authority is not there to shoot. Look on the badgers in the original post as an opportunity to enjoy yourself watching them whilst out shooting other quarry. I was sat under an old oak last summer waiting for a fox to come out to some rabbit guts put out as bait. (YES WITH A RIMMY, 30 yd shot) It wasn't realy going my way fox didn't show,Badgers did though;two of them,I watched them for ages play fighting and snuffling about. Little things like that make me feel quite honoured to be part of it. I spoilt it though because when I ****** they ran off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Its the number one cause of TB in this country and its been proven that badgers do spread and carry it. I know this from seeing several farms going down with TB in cattle, over here. Its very distressing to see their whole lively hood being taken away from them. Frank. It has not been proven conclusively that badgers are responsible for TB in cattle. Yes thay carry it buty so do Deer and i'm sure other animals. It has been proven however that culling them has no effect other than to drive infected badgers further afield and therefore making it possible to spread it to places that were free of it. I have worked on farms that have had TB reactors and no badgers for miles. I now manage a farm producing expensive pedegree cattle. We have seen the odd badger about but I'm certainly not worried. Think yourselves lucky if you see a badger.......99% of the population never have or ever will !! Leeboy Studys over here have found that of the 100% badgers culled in 1 area, 30% of them had TB. Badgers can travel for miles, just because their is no set on the land where the cattle have gone down, does not mean that a set 5 miles away will not effect it. IT HAS been proven here that the badger is the main spread of TB here in the republic of Ireland. I have worked in this sector for a while, so do know what im on about . Some farmers that have had their cattle gone down with TB, have commited suicide, or have ended up Alchoholics. Its no joke. Frank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Here is a link: http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/index.jsp?fi...l_health/TB.xml In certain parts of ireland, deer have to be culled and tested as they can spread it too, but its mainly badgers. Frank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flytie Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 A farmer friend showed me an independantly done study a while ago that blamed the explosion in the Badger population for the decline in ground nesting birds! The studies carried out in the 1970's in cornwall by ministry vets supposedly proved the link between Bovine TB and Brucellosis carried by badgers being passed to dairy cattle. I believe this is the study the government are still using to justify the culling of badgers. Me, I lke 'em! Couldn't eat a whole one though Ft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 A farmer friend showed me an independantly done study a while ago that blamed the explosion in the Badger population for the decline in ground nesting birds! The studies carried out in the 1970's in cornwall by ministry vets supposedly proved the link between Bovine TB and Brucellosis carried by badgers being passed to dairy cattle. I believe this is the study the government are still using to justify the culling of badgers. Me, I lke 'em! Couldn't eat a whole one though Ft I like them too Ft, just another animal that has got in the way of mans progress i suppose. Pity, as they are nice mammals to watch. Frank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbivvy Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Me, I lke 'em! Couldn't eat a whole one though me to flytie.i also like fox, rabbits, mink,stoats, etc. if badgers where to be put on the list i would have no qualms about shooting em though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeboy Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Hi, I don't consder myself lucky when I find they have killed all my chickens or dug under the fences letting the foxes in and their sets are only a 100 yards away from our birds. I wish more people would see them and realise that they are not cute fluffy and harmless. I think that controlled badger digging not baiting, but digging should be brought back as there are too many badgers about. You said that culling drives infected badgers further afield and that they can spread it there as well but previously you had typed there is no proof they spread it to cattle. Sorry if I have interpreted it wrong. FM Ferret Master, it is possible for badgers to transmit TB but its unproven as to wether they are responsible for the current rise in TB reactors in cattle. Deer carry it, and round here there are far more deer than badgers as is the case in a lot of areas. This is why the gov hasn't agreed to a mass culling of badgers despite pressure from farmers. If a badger is eating your chickens have you thought about making your chicken coup badger/fox proof. The badger doesen't know they are your chickens hes just hungry ! Leeboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbivvy Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation.com/ cam 2 denbury farm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJ2 Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Hundreds of badgers around here, to the point that I have to be so careful when walking my dogs. If people see you with a lurcher and terrier in the vicinity of a sett, a lot of them will automatically assume that you are baiting. My Jack Russelll was cut up awful by a badger a couple of years ago while out walking with Mrs MAJ2, and it cost me £177-42 to have him sewn up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flytie Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 [ This is why the gov hasn't agreed to a mass culling of badgers despite pressure from farmers.Leeboy Leeboy, what pressure from farmers? The only people I know who advocate the culling of badgers have been government departments, who have used the ministry vets to do the culling. It is the goverment who are concerned about the health implications of Brucellosis and TB being spread. I would love to know what you base your statement on? Ft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 I haven't met a dairy farmer yet who likes badgers, at least not near their cows. TB has been increasing 18% a year, coughs and sneezes may well spread diseases but TB doesn't carry over big distances, something is carrying it from farm to farm. The massive rise in prevalence of TB appears to be quite closely correlated with the huge growth in the number and distribution of badgers. Finally the compensation farmers get for a TB cattle when culled is pittance. Much less than its actual worth to the herd if it did not have the disease. If it was a fair price or a good price, I am sure farmers, being businessman wouldn't care less, and it would just be in the government's interest to reduce it, but that isn't the case, and the NFU is pretty proactive pushing for this cull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Teal, im not sure on this one. Most farmers work so hard to look after and maintain their cattle that they become atatched to them. All the farmer I know really do care for their live stock, and unless they were really broke, would always care if one died or had to be culled. Just remember Foot&Mouth,a few farmers commited suicide after their cows were all culled, even though they received enough compensation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 (edited) Sorry that bit of my post was in reference to flytie on the previous page: Leeboy, what pressure from farmers? The only people I know who advocate the culling of badgers have been government departments, who have used the ministry vets to do the culling. It is the goverment who are concerned about the health implications of Brucellosis and TB being spread. I would love to know what you base your statement on? I appreciate what you're saying, agree as well, but at the end of the day your average diary heifer is for churning out milk, the things are skin, bones and udder. I'm not saying farmers are cold hearted or anything, but there's a time and a place for sentiment, you can't afford to be attached if your livelihood depends on it. Your average friesian would live over 20 years, but will go to slaughter when the milk production begins to drop at about 6 years or younger. I think that most of the suicides in foot and mouth were to do with farmers losing business's and livelihoods. The compensation was woefully inadequate. The cost of having to buy new stock, was not equal to the money they got for their culled stock, and coupled with the months of no income, for people already on the edge, this was too much, a lot of them faced bankruptcy, or the uncertainty selling up. I certainly don't think it was the fact their stock was killed which pushed them over the edge, afterall killing/harvesting is farming. Edited June 10, 2006 by Teal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Thats true Was a big mess that, hopefully we never get it again. I suppose if the cow was 4-5 years into its milk years, and had a disease, the farmer would see a plus side to the cull being atleast a bit of compensation rather then nothing.. but im sure even the meat is worth more at the end of the optimum milk life of the cow.. still, you cant sell a diseased cow as meat, and if the goverment did pay the farmers more then the meat was worth, I suppose there would be more culled diseased cows to earn the extra profit.. As the farmers would want all they could get at the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeboy Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 [ This is why the gov hasn't agreed to a mass culling of badgers despite pressure from farmers. Leeboy Leeboy, what pressure from farmers? The only people I know who advocate the culling of badgers have been government departments, who have used the ministry vets to do the culling. It is the goverment who are concerned about the health implications of Brucellosis and TB being spread. I would love to know what you base your statement on? Ft Flytie, farmers weekly and fellow farming friends. As a farm manager I try and keep my ear to the ground. The whole foot and mouth incident stank so badly of corruption on the behalf of the gov that some farmers can still smell it. Somebody will be making money out of TB, that you can be assured of. Badgers are already being culled on the quiet regardless of wether or not its officially sanctioned, that is bound to happen. People will do it out of fear rather than wait for the go ahead. Leeboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 It effects farmers very badly. Not just themselfs, but their whole family. Marrige break ups are high when their is no money to go around and the whole bussiness colapses. The worst iv seen get effected is small farmers, whos whole lively totally depends on their cattle. TB in cattle and badgers is very bad news indeed, if badgers were not culled, TB would be like foot and mouth, but worse, us fellow humans would be in trouble too. Frank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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