This comes about because CBC's wanted me to tell his story...
"2am this morning, as I got up to go to the bathroom, I heard scratching sounds that could only be a badger using the fence as a nail file. On account of the fact that this fabled Badger had dug up our plants, burrowed in the veg bed and broken through a fence panel to travel easily between gardens, I decided to investigate. As I tiptoed outside, I assumed that, for some reason, the creature was on the neighbour's side of the fence and had intended to creep up on it, hoping to surprise it, possibly with a, "Here's Johnny!"-type scenario....or just quietly shoo it away, since this was the middle of the night.
It turned out that the badger was on our side, in our garden and was not frantically clawing at the recently-boarded up hole in the fence, to try and break through. I could swear that I then heard it attempt to scale the fence briefly before an about-face and then the fastest bolt towards the Bamboo at the back of the garden where it made its escape.
It was great to finally encounter this wild animal after so many reports from neighbours, local intelligence and a series of clues that have been left over the last few months. I doubt the boarding up of the fence will stop it from coming back, but it might stall it for a while."
I didn't see the badger sadly but once I heard that it was at large in the garden, I roused myself from my sleepy state to go downstairs to make sure I protected the raised bed at all costs! Bleary-eyed, I grabbed pots, watering cans and anything I could to stand on the wooden sleepers where there were possible entrance points for Mr Badger to dig my plants up. As I did so, I could hear various rustles coming from the bamboo but in my semi-conscious state, I imagined it might leap upon me with massive claws, so I worked with trepidation. This morning, all seemed intact on the raised bed front so the double pronged attack seems to have worked!
My unexpected nature encounters seem to always have been with slow-worms,, not badgers. I have encountered three over the past few months, one in my compost, one in a pot at the end of the garden and one on the path of my regular field walk- we both jumped!
Over to you- have you had any up close and personal incidents with badgers specifically, or indeed with any other creatures? CBC would love to know.
P.S. If you haven't visited the Bloggers Art Gallery yet, please do here. Rach has also joined in and she has loads of amazing part! Rach is the reason I am a blogger!
I can picture you chasing after this badger, lol...
ReplyDeleteI once had a scary encounter with two very large raccoons in the milk parlor at our farm. They were eating the grain and I wanted to chase them out of the parlor. I used a high pressure hose that we use to wash the parlor to to that. One took off for the door and the one in the corner tried to climb the wall but it's made of thick plastic and so feeling corned, he lashed out at me, at full speed with horrible growling noise. I kept the high pressure hose on him all the while and he finally took off for the door all the while I was shaking from fear. I was just as stubborn as him and I didn't want to give up. I felt victory. Raccoons are terribly dirty animals as they defecate all over the place and their feces harbours dangerous bacterias.
Even baby raccoons can be fierce when they feel threatened. I found that out the other day when a little hurt baby raccoon was found by the garage door. It stayed there for a good three hours till his mom came to get him in the night.It fiercely growled at me and I had to laugh. So spunky, the little thief.
Badgers are normally shy from people but are fierce when cornered, just so you know.
Take care and sty safe from badgers and the naughty virus.
Hugs, Julia
Wow - a dedicated gardener you are. I think rats eat my vegetables but I wouldn't dream of going out at night to chase them away. I have no hope of success!
ReplyDeleteWhat a story! No such thing as badgers around here, nor did I ever come across a slow worm. We did see a rat in the garden once during Winter and we've come across some surprise mice - not all of them alive, I must add. And I thought slugs and snails were bad ... xxx
ReplyDeleteWow, so lucky with the badger! I've always known they were about in south Essex but have never seen one there - lots in Daws Heath I think. By the way, we have a few long weekends in Southend coming up - fancy a coffee? I'm not a blogger though
ReplyDeleteI have never encountered a badger. We don't have them here. I see foxes occasionally. The last wild animal I remember seeing is a wild hog. I'm terribly afraid of them, the only animal that frightens me.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite a story with you and the badger.
My first thought while reading your post was "How in the world does CBC know what it sounds like for a badger to file his nails?" :)
ReplyDeleteWe have no badgers over on this side of the pond, I don't think. I've never heard of American badgers. Hmm. When we first moved into our house, which had been vacant for 2 years and had begun its reabsorption into the natural world, there were mice. Lots of mice. I can handle one mouse in the room with me. I dash out of the room, call Adam, and tell him to dispatch the mouse. But one morning I was sitting in my morning/breakfast chair in the corner of my bedroom, nibbling my toast. I could hear a mouse under my chair. I knew there was a somewhat large hole in the floor down there in the dark. I hoped it would scurry away to the other corner and leave me in peace. But then ... I heard a second mouse, and they proceeded to have a mouse fight, right under my chair. I squealed in terror, leapt from the chair, fled the room and told Adam to BOARD UP THAT HOLE OR ELSE. It's taken 5 years, but I think we've eradicated the mice and reclaimed our home.
How exciting having a badger in the garden, I'd probably be more excited about seeing a live one than worrying about the plants. I've only ever seen dead ones at the side of the road.
ReplyDeleteOur garden security light has come on at 10.30 every evening for months although we can never see anything out there, last Sunday Jon ran out to investigate and encountered a hedgehog! It may ecplain the lack of slugs! x
My grandma has badgers near her house. One night when she got dropped off after line dancing she saw 5 of them all at once! I wish I had been there.
ReplyDeleteYes, be careful of badgers, they are dangerous if put under stress ie cornered or approached. So are deer for that matter...
ReplyDeleteWe've had deer, grass snake, hedgehogs in the garden.
We've had a sparrowhawk too. The funniest was when there were two owls on a neighbour's roof. and they kept "ooo" "ooo" ing to one another in turn. One kept hopping along the ridge a bit, until (and I suspect) it fell off the end, there was a little pause and then the same gentle "ooo" ing carried on as if it tried to cover up it's embarrassing miscalculation.
Out and about the encounters with barn owls and stoats have been exceptional.