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Hungry Badgers in Your Garden
Badgers are increasingly having to adapt to urban life, due to pressure on our Countryside. They may occasionally be a minor nuisance by eating fruit, flower bulbs or root vegetables, or by making shallow pits in lawns when searching for insect grubs or earthworms. Apart from a minor nuisance, remember that badgers also eat garden insect pests, and other small mammals (especially vermin species like mice, rats and rabbits) as well as clearing up any small animal carcases/carrion so are not 100% bad in gardens. Providing badgers with an alternative food-supply may help reduce any garden damage, and badgers can make fascinating visitors. Many people like to feed badgers in their garden. Some commercial places even do so as it helps bring guests to stay at hotels and holiday parks.
You can help badgers by providing a bowl of water and occasionally a little wet or sloppy cat food or dog food, as badgers will come out of their setts to feed during the evenings. They will also eat seedless grapes, apples, pears, plums, plain peanuts or brazil nuts (no salt or chocolate), peanut butter sandwiches, a very few Sugar Puffs or Custard Cream biscuits. Whilst a pile of peanuts on the patio makes life easier for the badgers, you may find it more entertaining to scatter them across the lawn - the badgers will then have to sniff them out - meaning you have longer to watch them. However, wild animals will come to rely on artificial feeding; so it's best if you provide food in times of greatest need (winter and spring) or as an occasional treat. In terms of quantities, we would recommend no more than the equivalent of a large handful of peanuts plus the same amount of soft wet fruit (such as grapes) per visiting badger - except when badgers are looking hungry or poorly; when they may be given a little more. Individual badgers or clans may have slightly different taste preferences. If a badger clan lives near a takeway; it is more likely that members will be familiar with the normal takeaway food; and be happy to eat it. Badgers which lives in a rural area may not have come across takeaway food waste; so they may be reluctant to eat it, if other food sources are to hand. Note: If you leave out a dry dog food or cat food, then
leave a spill-proof metal tray or trough of water too. Water
is especially important in hot periods; as many badger cubs die of
dehydration if they can't get enough wet food to drink. Remember, when feeding badgers you are essentially trying to replicate their natural diet (mainly earthworms with their high protein and high moisture-content). If you wish to use a feeding bowl (!), then use a heavy metal dog-food bowl; and wash it in very hot water with a good detergent. Do not use the same wash water, dishcloths or tea towels for animal-dishes and human-dishes. Hedgehogs, Foxes and BadgersSome people wish to feed a variety or nocturnal visitors to their gardens - including Hedgehogs, Foxes and badgers, and wonder what to do for the best. Hedgehogs are daft enough to eat soggy bread in cows milk BUT IT IS NOT GOOD FOR THEM (as dairy products can damage their digestive system). Experts often advise putting out wet cat food for hedgehogs. As some badgers have acquired the skill of opening up a rolled-up hedgehog and eating it; your hedgehogs might stay away if they can sense badgers having visited or being nearby. Foxes and Badgers are in competition for some types of food. Both animals will eat wet cat food and other meat products. Normally a badger will "muscle-in" ahead of a fox and eat first, whilst the fox maintains a safe distance. However, if the badger is outnumbered by foxes, they may try and rush in a grab a bite to eat. For this reason, feeding foxes and badgers is best done with a mixture of small lumps of cat food (for the badgers who will eat things where they find them), and larger lumps like burgers (for the foxes who are more inclined to manage a take-away). Foxes will also cache food items, whereas badgers tend to eat food as and when they find it.
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