The black-and-white striped badger is a well-known species in the UK. It is our largest land predator feeding on small mammals, birds’ eggs, worms, fruit and plants.
Badgers live in large family groups in burrows under the ground called a ‘sett’. You know if a sett is lived in as it is usually neat and tidy with clean doorways marked with piles of used bedding made up of dry grass and leaves. There will also be a particularly smelly pit nearby that the badgers use as a toilet!
They have strong front paws, which they use to dig for food. Cubs are born in January or February but spend the first few months underground only coming out in spring when it is a little warmer. Look out for them now if you are walking after dark.
Helping badgers
The RSPCA has published some advice. You can help wild badgers by leaving out bowls of water and giving them small amounts of food during dry summers or long periods of cold weather when natural food is in short supply.
Suitable foods include:
- Tinned cereal-based dog food
- Lightly cooked meat
- Cheese
- Unsalted peanuts
- Seasonal fruits
Be careful when feeding wildlife. Only feed them small amounts so that they don’t become dependent on non-natural food supplies. This also stops problems arising if your neighbours don’t welcome badgers, as this may lead to them taking action against them.
Don’t provide food if it encourages badgers to cross a busy road. Read the full advice here.
Badgers are of course nocturnal and perhaps your best chance of seeing one is to set up a camera in your back garden as one of our Croydon based supporters has.
RSPCA South London - For Every Kind Of Creature 