Badgers

ArchXStanton · 12-12-2019 01:32AM

Stacksofwacks wrote: »

cats are tough mofos, will stand their ground against much bigger and more vicious creatures

Yeah they will not move until they've had their fill and if the foxes get too close trying to harass them they make a quick drive at them, I've a jack Russell and if he gets out all hell breaks lose

An Ri rua · 12-12-2019 01:36AM

Junkyard Tom wrote: »

Be careful. A fully grown badger is a strong animal, if you cornered one it would jump up and rip your throat out with its fangs.

I saw a documentary on that narrated by John Cleese...

Wait, that may have been a rabbit..

An Ri rua · 12-12-2019 01:40AM

ArchXStanton wrote: »

Does your dog not go mental? I have 2 foxes that visit every night for food I leave out for them and the cats, even if my dog senses them he goes crazy, they hate them. On the plus side, it's hilarious watching on the cctv the nightly battle between the cats and foxes over the food, cats take no messing

I've great memories as a young kid of running to my parents to tell them there was a banshee outside my window and when we opened it, it was a poor young fox screaming for his life, with our cat Sibe, back arched, sounded like the little ****er from the Exorcist. I'd say that fox had the shiney ****es for weeks after.

Stacksofwacks · 12-12-2019 01:42AM

Apparently Badgers and Foxes get on famously, even share Dens together

An Ri rua · 12-12-2019 01:42AM

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Apparently the culling works, the downside is that when badgers are being culled they travel further. Double edged sword.

I'd say they just shoot them, no? I know they licence deer cullers but I'd say the paperwork for some lunatic with a double-edged sword massacring badgers would test any government department.

ArchXStanton · 12-12-2019 01:44AM

An Ri rua wrote: »

I've great memories as a young kid of running to my parents to tell them there was a banshee outside my window and when we opened it, it was a poor young fox screaming for his life, with our cat Sibe, back arched, sounded like the little ****er from the Exorcist. I'd say that fox had the shiney ****es for weeks after.

I still like to see them around the place, beautiful creatures, I never mention it to anyone locally because you'd always get some fcuker with a gun

RobertKK · 12-12-2019 01:44AM

The department of agriculture cull them near where I live as they were spreading TB.

Before this there were lots of badgers and one would see them regularly if out during dusk. I was up early one morning and it was around dawn and I saw this mound in the field and couldn't make out what it was so went to see, nearly got a heart attack when I was like 1 foot away and it moved and I saw I was standing next to a badger. It had been rooting in a rotten dung eating dung beetles. It looks at me, I had decided to stay still, then after a couple of seconds it ran off as we were both equally scared I guess.

But the department of agriculture started culling after many cases of TB in the area and badgers were dying in fields and on the road. It did seem to solve the TB problem in the area.

Stacksofwacks · 12-12-2019 02:20AM

Just seen this video, more lively than I thought they were, kind of like Stoats ,weasels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Hh76f6qzY

Guy:Incognito · 12-12-2019 03:06AM

Do they hang out in strip clubs with the beavers?

wiggle16 · 12-12-2019 04:14AM

Stacksofwacks wrote: »

Just seen this video, more lively than I thought they were, kind of like Stoats ,weasels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Hh76f6qzY

They're related to them. They're all mustelids, same family as otters, ferrets and wolverines. One thing they all have in common is stink glands.

BDI · 12-12-2019 06:53AM

You don’t spot a badger

You stripe a badger.

You spot a Dalmatian

Graces7 · 12-12-2019 07:11AM

whisky_galore wrote: »

Sounds like an old wives tale to me.

Well yes as it is how we old wives survive intact to tell it

I lived in a place once where there were badgers; their sett was by the cottage that had been empty years. Stayed up nights in hiding to watch them. Magical . Keep very still..

Bob Harris · 12-12-2019 07:16AM

How do you start a badger race?

Ready, sett, go...!

Bob Harris · 12-12-2019 08:11AM

Stacksofwacks wrote: »

Apparently Badgers and Foxes get on famously, even share Dens together

I believe you're mistaken. It's moles and rats they get on best with and seemingly have little time for mischievous toads.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 12-12-2019 10:17AM

Stacksofwacks wrote: »

Just a question, a bit of an odd one but on the off chance that someone might know..where is the best place to spot badgers in Ireland..I know there is lots of them but they only come out at night and hard to spot..Also whats the best way to get them out of their quarters during the day(smoking aside), perhaps leave nuts by the den?

Peanuts will keep them in an area so you can watch or film them but won't lure them out in daylight. Contact a local wildlife group for advice on locations near you.

IAMAMORON wrote: »

They are nocturnal op.

Be very careful approaching one, they have very sharp teeth and are very safety conscious, particularly around their young. It could get nasty. They can be vicious.

]

You'll rarely, if ever get close enough to them for that to be an issue. They are very shy and wary.

KWAG2019 wrote: »

OP and friend confront badger having his dinner.

Pity that's not a European Badger and a species with a completely different lifestyle and temperament. :rolleyes:

Wanderer78 · 12-12-2019 10:19AM

Fiftyfilthy · 12-12-2019 10:24AM

I was staying at a friends house in England a few years ago and heard sounds at the front door around 2am, was certain it was someone trying to break in. Went downstairs and opened the door and saw a big badger

First and only time seeing one, was surprised at how big it was

Thelonious Monk · 12-12-2019 10:26AM

Saw one once a couple of years ago at about 4am near st annes park. Theyre so cool the way they walk.

bonzodog2 · 12-12-2019 10:28AM

Wanderer78 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx6TBrfCW54

whisky_galore · 12-12-2019 10:28AM

If only they could come up with a vaccine for bovine tb... oh wait too many people in the dept of agriculture would lose their jobs.

gozunda · 12-12-2019 10:35AM

Stacksofwacks wrote: »

Apparently Badgers and Foxes get on famously, even share Dens together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfZkuMfQdHU

12-12-2019 10:46AM

Bob Harris wrote: »

I believe you're mistaken. It's moles and rats they get on best with and seemingly have little time for mischievous toads.

No he's correct

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Buford T. Justice XIX · 12-12-2019 11:59AM

whisky_galore wrote: »

If only they could come up with a vaccine for bovine tb... oh wait too many people in the dept of agriculture would lose their jobs.

You can't vaccinate cattle as you cannot export meat from animals testing positive for TB. And there's no prospect currently of carrying out TB vaccinations as no safe, reliable vaccine exists.

There is a badger TB vaccine currently being used despite some glaring deficiencies in it's suitability. Approximately 60% of badgers become immunized by the vaccination but 40% aren't. Afaik, there's no research done on whether the current level of immunity in that 60% is able to withstand exposure to high levels of TB residuals found in badger habitats like setts.

Interestingly, one of the current highest TB outbreaks in cattle is occurring in Monaghan which, coincidentally, is one of the pilot areas for badger vaccination. So the efficacy of that vaccination policy would have to be questioned.

Kimbot · 12-12-2019 12:00PM

If you want to spot some badgers I do see plenty of them all over the m7 motorway in the mornings :P

Buford T. Justice XIX · 12-12-2019 12:06PM

wiggle16 wrote: »

They'd be more inclined towards cat food.

If you're in Dublin there are a fair few of them in the Phoenix park, but they are very hard to catch a glimpse of, mainly because they're nocturnal and actively avoid people. They tend to sett in places that aren't very accessible to people, I've lived beside the park my whole life and I don't think I've ever knowingly seen a sett.

Also they don't fully hibernate but are much less active during the winter and don't come out in cold weather.

You want badger setts, I've 'king loads of them:mad:

corner of hells · 12-12-2019 12:06PM

Kimbot wrote: »

If you want to spot some badgers I do see plenty of them all over the m7 motorway in the mornings :P

On their way to work ?

topper75 · 12-12-2019 01:01PM

Never seen one alive. I know a good sett in mid-Clare but wouldn't have the patience to sit still through the night. Half thinking about getting a trailcam sometime to at least get footage.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 12-12-2019 01:30PM

topper75 wrote: »

Never seen one alive. I know a good sett in mid-Clare but wouldn't have the patience to sit still through the night. Half thinking about getting a trailcam sometime to at least get footage.

It's not an all night effort. Approach the sett quietly an hour before dusk, position yourself down wind more than 10 metres from the sett, get comfortable sitting against a tree or hedge, so your outline is hidden. Avoid wearing aftershave or scents, don't use torches and keep quiet. Sit there for no more than two hours and you should be able to see them. Some nights nothing happens but you'll know within a couple of hours.

Feisar · 12-12-2019 01:32PM

I've seen them at night however only their eyes reflecting in a lamp.

I've done tonnes of shooting over the years tramping around fields and have never seen one during the daytime.

_Brian · 12-12-2019 01:33PM

Side of the road they are often seen in varying levels of disassembly.

Badgers

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