Found a dead badger this afternoon.

[blacktimberwolf]

Or rather the dogs did. It was in a ditch at the side of a small country road/ track where only about 10 cars a day pass. whether it was thrown into the ditch after being hit by a car or landed in there after the collision I can't say....
As I had a camera with me I took a few pics..........
This is how I found it...


Turned it over to sex it.........male I think...


At first I thought it was an old fella but after looking at his teeth I reckon he was no more than 3 years old. He had some impressive canines...


Judging by the smell I'd say he was killed saturday night/sunday morning.
He was probably hit by some enebriated youth(s) driving too fast or deliberately run over in the wee small hours..

[Dreadhead]

shame that. iv never seen a badger with my own eyes still would have thought about taking the fur though...

[shaggystu]

......He was probably hit by some enebriated youth(s) driving too fast or deliberately run over in the wee small hours..

now that's some damn impressive tracking skills there, i'd love to know how you worked those details out

[Bushwhacker]

I would say hit or run over and then it crawled off to die.
I've never seen a badger get thrown by a car.

[Dreadhead]

im just speculating here but its possible he may have fallen out of his badgercopter....?

[southey]

I suspect it was an act by either SPECTRE or SMERSH

[EdS]

shame that. iv never seen a badger with my own eyes still would have thought about taking the fur though...

But you'd have to take it to a local vet or police station to get them to sign to say it died of natural causes.

[Tadpole]

I tend to find that if the badger is on the road, it's a road kill (hit by a car/van truck) where as if it is on the pavement or in a ditch, it's been killed elsewhere and dumped.

[Bushwhacker]

I tend to find that if the badger is on the road, it's a road kill (hit by a car/van truck) where as if it is on the pavement or in a ditch, it's been killed elsewhere and dumped.

I disagree.
1) Even after being hit they can crawl off.
2) Any dead ones in the middle of the road are a massive danger to other road users, it's like hitting a breeze block. I've moved many a badger out of harms way, same with deer.

[blacktimberwolf]

now that's some damn impressive tracking skills there, i'd love to know how you worked those details out

Elementary my dear Watson..............it's a quiet, little used road, open on both sides so anyone driving at a reasonable speed would have seen it approaching the road & been able to stop should they have wished...Helas, there are a few 'youngters' when returning from night clubs & who have had a few too many, take great pleasure speeding through the country roads on the way home.( "I can 'andle it") If I take into account the ETD & the fact that it's highly unlikely anyone else would be on the roads at that time I came to that conclusion.( though I did say probably & not certainly)..
Of course the critter could have been hiding in the ditch then jumped out & the driver couldn't have avoided it..... the only external injuries were on the rump where there was a large bloody area with no skin.

[Robbi]

get lots of road kill badgers over here, on my travels i will see at least 3 a day.

[shaggystu]

Elementary my dear Watson..............it's a quiet, little used road, open on both sides so anyone driving at a reasonable speed would have seen it approaching the road & been able to stop should they have wished...Helas, there are a few 'youngters' when returning from night clubs & who have had a few too many, take great pleasure speeding through the country roads on the way home.( "I can 'andle it") If I take into account the ETD & the fact that it's highly unlikely anyone else would be on the roads at that time I came to that conclusion.( though I did say probably & not certainly)..
Of course the critter could have been hiding in the ditch then jumped out & the driver couldn't have avoided it..... the only external injuries were on the rump where there was a large bloody area with no skin.

fair enough

[blacktimberwolf]

The more I think about it, Bushwhacker's scenerio is prehaps the right one....the position of the body does look like the animal died that way & was not thrown in, also the gums are very pale which may be due to internal hemorrhaging.

[Robbi]

the damage that you describe is classic for a badger being dragged beneath a vehicle, the car has gone straight over the top of it and the large bloody area with no skin is basicaly a friction injury where the badger has been bowled over under the car, they very often survive the actual "crash" but crawl off to die, normaly from shock.

[Bushwhacker]

I forgot to add that uk badgers that have been released will have a tattoo on the belly for ID purposes.

[shaggystu]

I forgot to add that uk badgers that have been released will have a tattoo on the belly for ID purposes.

i didn't know that, i presume that's to show that they're clear of TB?

[Bushwhacker]

i didn't know that, i presume that's to show that they're clear of TB?

They certainly would have been vaccinated against it. It's road casualties like that which means they can be identified and their movements known.

[shaggystu]

They certainly would have been vaccinated against it. It's road casualties like that which means they can be identified and their movements known.

oh ok, so it's more for the purposes of tracking released animals then is it? interesting

[NetFrog]

We get a lot of run over badgers here, I have been fairly close myself several times whilst only doing around 40mph on country roads. There seems to be particular times of the year when I see more, and by more I mean sometimes we see half a dozen killed overnight on the same stretch of road. I would have to research it (and lazy right now) but it must be either mating season or coming out of hibernation as it happens early on in the year every year.

[Bushwhacker]

oh ok, so it's more for the purposes of tracking released animals then is it? interesting

Yes. Just to add -The belly region has very little hair so it's easy for anyone to see the tattoo and relay it back to their local mammal group. Just make sure the bloody thing is dead before rolling it over.

[southey]

Or at least in a good mood!

[ged]

... There seems to be particular times of the year when I see more ... it happens early on in the year every year.

They get wrong-footed when the clocks change. It's well documented. They learn to avoid rush hour traffic and then we change the bloody times.

[Bushwhacker]

Or at least in a good mood!

They can be appeased with HONEY FROM THE BEEEEES!

[Androo]

I pass a deceased badger on the way to one of the local woods - I've haven't seen a live one apart from on roads before.
I never though of using the fur for anything, is there any other uses for parts of a badger? (To be used with complete reverence of course) Teeth?, does the skin make good leather?

[tinderbox]

Badger bristles make very fine shaving brushes, and the whole fur was traditionally used to make dress sporrans for the Black Watch.

[Bushwhacker]

How come so many people have never seen a badger?

[Chiseller]

How come so many people have never seen a badger?

Because, folk are usually tucked up in bed and don't walk the path of Brock at the same time?

Sent from my HTC Explorer using Tapatalk 2

[Bushwhacker]

Because, folk are usually tucked up in bed and don't walk the path of Brock at the same time?

Sent from my HTC Explorer using Tapatalk 2

Maybe you're right, although they can be seen in the day too.
I'm just confused about this mass profession on here for wanting to learn about/see/track wildlife, yet very little actual interest.