Dead badgers on the roads.

Archeron

hi all,
I live in Meath, and I've noticed over the past while that there seem to be lots of dead badgers on the roads lately. Over the past two weeks I've seen 7 or 8 on my local roads, and they are big dudes too.

Has there bene an increase in badger populations, or there some reason why so many seem to be appearing dead on roads?
Cheers

Birdnuts

I don't really know - it could be the time of year with younger ones looking for new territories. Eithier way its a pretty depressing sight, no doubt made worse by the number of "boy racers" who seem to take over many roads at night and appear to be untroubled by our lazy Garda Traffic Corps:mad:

Feargal as Luimneach

With all the new roads (M4 goes thro' Meath, I think:o), alot of Badgers either have had their setts destroyed or the new roads are going through their home ranges. The new central medians are now solid conctrete and are high often trapping badgers as they run across the motorway. A death trap for badgers.:mad::mad::mad:

BrianD3

I've been driving 30-35k per year in the midlands/border region for a good few years and always see loads of dead badgers - but can't say I've noticed an increase this year compared to other years.

Birdnuts

Feargal as Luimneach wrote: »

With all the new roads (M4 goes thro' Meath, I think:o), alot of Badgers either have had their setts destroyed or the new roads are going through their home ranges. The new central medians are now solid conctrete and are high often trapping badgers as they run across the motorway. A death trap for badgers.:mad::mad::mad:

Add to that the fact that unlike virtually every other modern European country, the likes of the NRA have never heard of the concept of "wildlife underpasses":mad::mad:

angelxx

I have seen quite a few dead badgers on the roads in town, My friend knows someone who ran over a couple and appears to think it's a joke. People like that are disgusting.
As an animal lover I always feel sad when I see a dead badger.

Black Heart

And not to hijack the thread, but dead hedgehogs, too. A friend of mine saw some (an adult and its baby) being run over by this heartless driver. He could see them, how could the driver not?

jmkennedyie

Birdnuts wrote: »

Add to that the fact that unlike virtually every other modern European country, the likes of the NRA have never heard of the concept of "wildlife underpasses":mad::mad:

Fact?

NRA guidelines for treatment of badgers:
http://www.nra.ie/Publications/DownloadableDocumentation/Environment/file,3491,en.pdf

NRA guidelines for treatment of otters:
http://www.nra.ie/Publications/DownloadableDocumentation/Environment/file,5147,en.pdf

More here: http://www.nra.ie/Publications/DownloadableDocumentation/Environment/

Plenty of things to be mad about but that's not one of them.

Half-cocked

Black Heart wrote: »

And not to hijack the thread, but dead hedgehogs, too. A friend of mine saw some (an adult and its baby) being run over by this heartless driver. He could see them, how could the driver not?

If someone deliberately did this, ie you witnessed them swerving to hit the animals, could they be liable for prosecution under the wildlife act? I know it would be hard to prove, they would claim it wasn't deliberate, but it would be your word against theirs. I'm always amazed/saddened that so many animals get run over on low speed limit roads where the driver should have been slow enough to avoid them. I'm convinced a lot of drivers are either deliberately hitting animals or else half blind. I've never had a problem being able to avoid hedgehogs and badgers on the road at night, and I am not a slow driver. Its different with foxes, deer and hares which have a bad habit of leaping in front of you, but hedgehogs and badgers are easy to avoid.

To go back to the OP's query, a lot of the dead badgers I'm seeing at the moment are young animals, maybe its inexperience or inquisitiveness thats getting them killed?

Archeron

Thanks for the replies, maybe it is indeed younger ones being pushed out of their homes with the new roads.

I've lived in Meath for 7 years now, and this is the first year its been so noticable, normally I'd see one or two a year, but nowhere near as many as lately.
Sad to see them getting killed like this.

Birdnuts

Half-cocked wrote: »

. I'm convinced a lot of drivers are either deliberately hitting animals or else half blind. I've never had a problem being able to avoid hedgehogs and badgers on the road at night, and I am not a slow driver. Its different with foxes, deer and hares which have a bad habit of leaping in front of you, but hedgehogs and badgers are easy to avoid.

?

There's no doubt about it - alot of sick/cruel people out there. Those boy racers alone I'd say have a fare bit of blood on their hands. They've no respect for man or beast. I will recount an expericance I had a few years ago later to back up my assertions:(

magicbastarder

jmkennedyie wrote: »

Fact?

Plenty of things to be mad about but that's not one of them.

they have guidelines - are they followed?
genuine question.

Amberjack

I too get upset seeing dead wildlife on roads and as for people deliberately doing it, it makes my blood boil. <SNIP> I really hate seeing dead animals/wildlife on the roads and it's made all the more upsetting when it's deliberate and could be avoided. Just my tuppence worth but I do feel very strongly about it.

tmcw

I feel sad too, anytime I see a fox, badger, dog or cat dead on the road. But it could be just as dangerous attempting to avoid an animal too. You swerve too quickly, even at 80kph, you could run the risk of rolling your car, going off the road, or going into oncoming traffic.

Lots of these animals are active at night. Sometimes I wonder if some of these single-car accidents at night could have been caused by animals on the road.

Amtmann

Birdnuts wrote: »

Add to that the fact that unlike virtually every other modern European country, the likes of the NRA have never heard of the concept of "wildlife underpasses":mad::mad:

Feargal as Luimneach wrote: »

With all the new roads (M4 goes thro' Meath, I think:o), alot of Badgers either have had their setts destroyed or the new roads are going through their home ranges. The new central medians are now solid conctrete and are high often trapping badgers as they run across the motorway. A death trap for badgers.:mad::mad::mad:

magicbastarder wrote: »

they have guidelines - are they followed?
genuine question.

Artificial setts are built and badgers are relocated. Here are a few photos of a mammal tunnel under the M8 I took just last week. It is heavily trafficked by both foxes and badgers:



Unfortunately it's hard to see, but there are many fox and badger footprints in and around the mouth of the tunnel. There is also a path leading from a nearby field towards it:



Here's the view inside the tunnel - and no, I didn't stick my head into it, just the camera:

Black Heart

Half-cocked wrote: »

If someone deliberately did this, ie you witnessed them swerving to hit the animals, could they be liable for prosecution under the wildlife act? I know it would be hard to prove, they would claim it wasn't deliberate, but it would be your word against theirs. I'm always amazed/saddened that so many animals get run over on low speed limit roads where the driver should have been slow enough to avoid them. I'm convinced a lot of drivers are either deliberately hitting animals or else half blind. I've never had a problem being able to avoid hedgehogs and badgers on the road at night, and I am not a slow driver. Its different with foxes, deer and hares which have a bad habit of leaping in front of you, but hedgehogs and badgers are easy to avoid.

There wouldn't be much hope of that. My friend was too concerned about the hedgehogs to get the number. He couldn't even tell me the make of car.