Nasty, they've got a hell of a bite for sure.
I wouldn't deem this a normal situation mind, it sounds like the badger had nowhere to go and was acting in defence.
Avoiding heebee jeebees
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Nasty, they've got a hell of a bite for sure.
I wouldn't deem this a normal situation mind, it sounds like the badger had nowhere to go and was acting in defence.
I think most wild animals will lash out when cornered , I've had a couple of nasty ones from the wife over the years
Craig.................
yeah it was pretty much a defencive bite. they are built like werewolves though..and somewhat diseased i hear.
TB? on a golf course a friend works on they are warned about the local badgers having TB and i think something else?
In the UK, a small proportion of the badger population is infected with the bovine strain of TB. The proportion is higher in the south-west of England. They carry other diseases, and also things like ticks, lice and fleas. The chances of catching TB from an infected badger are vanishingly small unless you're handling it. Don't even think about it, they are not easy to handle even for a small crowd of experts!
There is a wealth of literature on the subject of bovine TB in badgers and its role in cattle disease. The debate is particularly hot at the moment because of current proposals to tackle the issue.
I'm in the southwest so all the groundsmen mention it..seems like I hear alot of silly/serious stories when it comes to badgers so alot of the time it's hard to get a realistic image of them these days. Not heard alot about the myxomatosis infected rabbits lately, but I'm assuming it's still rampant.
People get things out of proportion. There's a lot of information specifically about badgers and TB here:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/tb-control-measures/index.htm
We were very successful in reducing the incidence of TB until the late 1970s but instead of pursuing the goal of entirely eradicating the disease we relaxed. I suspect farmers' representatives were successful in lobbying for the removal of many restrictions because it was costing them money, and this has allowed things to get out of hand. Pockets of TB have sprung up all over the place, and it's hard to see the need to point to wildlife as an explanation when potentially diseased cattle are routinely moved in lorries, often hundreds of miles, after being sold.
I'm personally far from convinced that the government have formed their policy purely on the basis of the evidence. Highly promising research on vaccination was abandoned, to my mind inexplicably. The proposed system of local organization for culling badgers is frankly laughable -- think Neighbourhood Watch meets Dad's Army. It's going to get worse before it gets better.
It probably isn't such a news-worthy topic.
http://www.animalrescueandcare.org/myx.asp
Er, did we hijack this thread? Sorry. I like badgers, and I don't see why they should suffer for our mistakes.
Haha we did a bit
It's a good section of this general topic though, because the biggest beasties out there that aren't deer are badgers (excluding random lunatics) and alot of new campers do worry about them. Is treatment ever an option to celan up the tb? or do they just shoot them all..?
Well there are wild boar of course, and they can be a lot more dangerous.
Treatment is a promising option, but only that. The first badger vaccine was only licenced in March 2010 and it's injectable, not oral, so it hasn't seen large scale use. That means there's little evidence available for its ultimate efficacy in reducing the prevalence of TB in cattle; and that means that nobody will go out on a limb and authorize the expenditure. Some of the research which was abandoned (in Gloucestershire) addressed exactly this issue. Injectable vaccines are difficult to use (see my comments about handling the critters, never mind sticking needles in them!) so an oral vaccine would be better from all points of view. Unfortunately that's four or five years away at best.
Shooting is one method used to kill badgers, and gassing with cyanide is probably the other most common one. In neither case can the entire badger population in an area be killed, it's a practical impossibility. The majority of the animals killed will be perfectly healthy. When the badger populations are disturbed by the control measures they will move around, either moving away from the danger or taking up newly vacant territories, and this has been seen to make the problem worse, not better, in the immediate surroundings. If culling is not carried out over a sufficiently large area, it will make the problem worse anyway. This is why I say that the proposals for local organization are laughable, since (a) they seem to take no account of that fact and (b) they rely entirely on local initiative and voluntary effort rather than government mandate and enforcement.
It's an accountancy thing.
Indeed we do. The were native, but were hunted to extinction in the wild by the middle ages. Captive populations have escaped over the years and now there are several thriving populations in the wild in southern England.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_boar
Wow, I'd love to see them sniffing about in the wild, deer are nice an' all but I'm fond of pigs..and mushrooms. I hear piggies like rotten apples and get drunk on the fermented juices
clever little fellas. That reminds me I've got a gallon of cloudy scrumpy in the fridge! (7.5% man strength!)
I'd say the most dangerous animal out there is the cow. I reckon they must account for more injuries and deaths per year than any other creature in our countryside.
Seen the cows they in Scotland? They look cross bred with mammoths..wouldn't want them visiting me when i was sleeping in my tent! haha
There's 4 highland cattle at the back of mine. Big ole horns on 'em and as soon as I go in the field they come charging over. These ones are big softies though, they're only being curious.
It's a mother and calf scenario (especially with a dog involved) or a stampede from being scared that creates the worst situations.
I remember a massive bull that used to be kept at a farm/stables my kept her horse in that would escape all the time, it would literally ram the metal gates fixtures out of the wall..haha was always trying to get in some guys swimming pool once free though! Do deer or stag ever turn nasty?
I think all stags will get narky in rutting season.
I've had a Roe bear down on me once whilst cammoed up in a field observing them. I stood up and raised my arms and it stopped and ran off. Not particularly scary.
I'd certainly steer clear of a Red Deer stag in rut that's for sure.
Did you hear about the biggest red stag (Exmoor Emperor) being killed and decapitated by some w***** poachers? I think it was Britains tallest land animal too.
