Badger Consultants

We are badger consultants with years of experience dealing with all sides of badger consultancy and badger mitigation.

Our badger consultancy work ranges from initial site surveys, territorial bait marking surveys and artificial badger sett construction to obtaining licences to cover work near badger setts and the exclusion of badger setts.

We have held badger disturbance and exclusion licences with English Nature, DEFRA, Natural England, the Countryside Council for Wales and the Scottish Natural Heritage.

We have built artificial badger setts across the country in various situations and locations. We can modify the design of sett for use in any situation and we have a very high success rate with regards to the setts becoming established badger setts.

The information below is some general information on badgers that will aid you in understanding the species and working out when you may need a badger consultant to help you.

General Badger Information.

Territoriality.

Badgers live in social groups called clans and are territorial. Each clan territory can vary considerably in size, from 0.2 sq. km to 1.5 sq. km. The average number of badgers in a clan has been calculated to be six but this number can vary between two and twenty badgers. In areas with a significant badger population there will be contiguous clans and a well-defined territorial boundary with areas of dung pits, called latrines. In areas with relatively low badger populations there will be less competition for territory and the amount of territorial markings will be low or even non existent.

Territorial boundaries can be defined using a technique called bait marking. Over a two week period badgers are fed at their main setts with food containing coloured plastic pellets, a different colour at each main sett. The colour of pellet found in the dung pits and territorial latrines shows what areas each clan of badgers occupies.

Ecology.

Badgers are omnivorous but their preferred food source is worms and insects. Worms are most abundant in well-grazed pastureland while mixed woodland is a good source of insects and grubs. Badgers have a soft and supple nose with which they snuffle into the ground to find insects. When they do this they leave distinct round holes known as snuffle holes or grubbings. Badgers easily find worms on the surface of well-grazed pastureland and often leave no visible indications of this foraging.

The badger's most important sense is that of smell. They will use particular paths around their territory repeatedly, following a scent trail from previous use. As a result badger paths become well worn. These paths are important to the badgers and obstruction of these paths will interfere with the badger's movement around their territory.

Badgers mate at any time of year but delayed implantation controls the time of birth. Most cubs are born between January and March but they can be born at any time between December and June. An average ot two to three badger cubs are born to each sow and will initially be totally dependent on their mother. Cubs do not appear above ground until during April or May when they are 8-10 weeks old and are not fully weaned until June of each year.

Badger Setts.

A badger sett is any structure or place which displays signs of current or seasonal use by a badger. Within a badger clan territory there can be several badger setts which are categorised in the following ways.

Main Sett. There will normally be one main sett in a territory. This will generally be the largest sett in the territory, typically with five or more entrances, will be permanently occupied throughout the year and used as the breeding sett.

Outlying Sett. These are the smallest setts with generally only one or two entrances. They are intermittently occupied and there can be any number in a territory.

Annex Sett. A sett of intermediate size, located close to the main sett and conneted by well-defined paths. These are occupied for prolonged periods and may be used as a second breeding sett if there are two breeding sows in the clan.

Subsidiary Sett. A sett of intermediate size, similar to an annex sett but located at some distance from the main sett and not connected to the main sett by defined paths.

Legislation

Badgers and their setts are protected by the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. Under the Act it is illegal to:-

• Willfully kill, injure or take a badger or attempt to do so.
• Cruelly ill-treat a badger.
• Interfere with a sett by doing any of the following.
  • damaging a badger sett or any part of it.
  • destroying a badger sett
  • obstructing access to a badger sett.
  • causing a dog to enter a sett.
  • disturbing a badger while it is occupying a sett.

Penalties for offences under the Act are up to six months in prison and a fine of £5,000 for each offence.

Disturbance to a badger in a sett can be caused by working close to a sett.

Before any work goes ahead which will cause damage to setts or disturbance to badgers, a licence will be needed from English Nature in accordance with their guidelines. To obtain a licence an application must be made giving at least one months notice. This application must include full justification for the work, the manner in which any work is to be carried out, full supporting information and a named person suitably experienced to carry out specialised badger work, to supervise that licence. English Nature will normally only issue such licences for work to be carried out between the months of July and October inclusive, to avoid the breeding season, although exceptions may be possible if a sound justification can be made.