A Strange Beast

 A "strange animal" was reported and the person had not seen anything like it. They said they would put a camera out to see if it came back. 

I waited with baited breath then came the message "We got it on camera!"

I watched the clip ...it was a badger. Told the peron who replied "I thought that badgers were huge things the size of a labrador?" 

Any... I need to cut back on the bad language.

Number of Badger Setts

 

There are now 62 confirmed badger clan areas in the City and County of Bristol. There are no doubt others but people tend to keep quiet about them. That is good until we get a situation where a sett is under threat and we have to try to protect it with no warning.

Total number of clan setts the BBG has now stopped from being developed on is over 15. Long Ashton Parish Council and Bristol City Council still refuse to respond to the presence of badgers and otters on one of its developments. This is the criminality of local authorities who cherish developers money over conservation and the environment.

Someone asked how BBG can say an area has a badger sett if it only has a report of a badger being seen? Well, unless badgers are teleporting (not had that confirmed yet🫣) a badger has to be living somewhere which by definition would be a sett. We do not draw attention to areas where badgers are seen for very obvious reasons and also if you go entering peoples gardens to check if there is a sett in it you'll either end up withy a copper feeling your collar or punch in the bracket.

The list of "where" badgers are is confidential and neither Avon Wildlife Trust nor BRERC has a copy of the list since they have been downright uncooperative over the last 30 years for reasons I cannot fathom. One other person, who I trust (very, very few of them) will get a copy of the list "in case" mortality catches up with me as there doers need to be a record for conservation and protection purposes.

I ought to point out that there are rumoured to be others but I cannot list those without confirmation and householders want to keep it a secret nothing we can do other than ask that they PLEASE let us know if they have a sett "just in case".;

Bristol City Council and Long Ashton Parish Council and South Gloucestershire Council: "We see no badgers"

 

Added another two sett locations to the ones known which takes know urban and countryside territories to over 60.

Which sounds good until you realise how many are being killed.

It should also be noted that two current sites where established setts and badger activity has been noted are still under threat: one by Bristol City Council and the other by South Gloucestershire Council. Despite the evidence both authorities claim there are no badgers present and neither will respond to correspondence on the matter.

Money and development is far more important to these people than saving/conserving a protected species. Lonmg Ashton Parish Council have repeatedly been informed of badgers and otters as well as other species in an area they cover: six emails, messages via Twitter etc -no responses.

 

They Were Scared About What Might Be Found. That is A Cover Up.

 

I had a "little whisper" from a reliable person that the reason I was lied to about badgers not undergoing post mortems due to the possibility of bovine TB was that if we submitted all the badgers recorded and each one was shown not to have bTB (it was considered "highly unlikely" that they would) it would undermine th reasons for the badger cull.

I further decided to check with the Health and Safety Executive and their rule of "no badger post mortems in the PM lab".  No such rule. Just the "natural and proper pre PM checks".

Guess what? While I was being given the "HSE will NOT allow it" crap the PM lab was undertaking badger post mortems.

The question is, and I think we have the answer now, WHAT were they trying to cover up?

The UK is an awful place for wildlife and trying to gain knowledge about wildlife health issues and treatments.

As an addenda this is what you will find online:

Badger post-mortems (necropsies) are strictly regulated to manage the severe risk of zoonotic diseases—primarily Bovine Tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis). They must not be performed on standard clinical premises or by the general public; examinations are exclusively handled by specialised facilities like the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) or specific research projects

The APHA were the ones allegedly refusing permission to carry out badger PMs while authorising badger PMs -ON standard clinical premises.  The bTB excuse is a good cover.

Few People Care About Traditional Wildlife Pathways

 

Sadly, it is not rare to hear of badger runs or entrances into gardens being blocked off. If a sett was involved then we could do something but in this case if it is a private/local authority owned home the tenants can block holes in fences.  Thgis is from the BS10 area:

 "I suspect their route has been blocked but I don't know which direction they're coming from their sett. (A few years ago, when  I contacted the Badger Trust about a neighbour damaging a sett in garden, they said they knew where the main set probably was.) 

"I've had adult & young badgers coming in for years. I always leave water for them & sometimes dog biscuit left over from foxes. There was an attempt by a badger to smash through the fence on the other side of my garden at the time the badgers stopped visiting.

" Unfortunately there's only one entrance for them, which is through a tunnel under the opposite fence, which they no longer seem able to access ."

This is the UK and very few people really care about wildlife let alone about an endangered species or its right to survive on traditional clan territory that humans have built on.,

This Is NOT A Hobby

 

When a location is given for a badger death it is left a bit vague for obvious reasons, The exact location is never given.

So "There is a dead badger I've just passed" and then a refusal to give location means that report cannot be included. It's void.

When you post video clips onto social media of 'your' badgers and a polite enquiry is made then totally ignoring the enquiry is not very badger friendly,

Badgers like foxes are NOT your garden pet to help you get social media likes.

Behave and report responsibly because we are trying to save badgers,

Correction To Previous Post and Analysis

 

Correction. There is a report that was missed as it went to Bristol Foxes and Badgers.

Sadly, we hit the key number taking us past any previous year's losses up to 14 06 2026:

067 Thursday 11 06 2026 dead badger on main road to Portbury roundabout, the road coming from Leigh woods.

068 Thursday 11 06 2026 dead badger on Sylvian Way just off the Portway

069 Thursday 11 06 2026 RTA badger cub A369 Martcombe Road in Easton-in-Gordano.

070 Saturday 13 06 2026 Dead badger on side of road A370 at Cleeve , just prior to Budgens towards Congresbury.

Here is what you get when asking AI about this number of losses:

If 70 badgers have been confirmed dead on the road the likely actual number of deaths is between 105 and 140.

The true death toll is typically significantly higher than reported figures due to several factors:

Underreporting & Carcasses Thrown: Many badgers are hit but manage to crawl off the road into nearby vegetation to die, meaning they are never seen or counted on the tarmac.
Scavenging & Decay: Dead badgers left on the roadside are often scavenged by other animals or rapidly decompose, causing them to disappear before they can be recorded. [1]

We are reaching a key number in Badger losses

 Today another badger was reported dead. At the current rate we will surpass previous years reports.

069 Dead badger on side of road A370 at Cleeve , just prior to Budgens towards Congresbury.

Up to 14 06 2025 we had 62 confirmed badgers. Reporting is getting better(?) but the real total would be staggering.

68th KNOWN Badger Death This Year

 

068 Thursday 11 06 2026 RTA badger cubA369 Martcombe Road in Easton-in-Gordano BS20

Have We LOST The War For The Environment and Wildlife?

 Simply: yes.  

People are not interested in standing up for anything outside of their houses and driveways. People do not stop when they hit wildlife and do not care if the animal takes hours to die -"Shouldn't be on the road" is the usual response.  

Mature growth trees chopped down ("unavoidable") -"so what?"

It is now declared that "five new towns" will be built around Bristol (we've already seen the damage one "new suburb" underway has done).  NOT towns but in reality suburbs and guess where some will be built? Green sites and on traditionally wildlife rich areas because "they are pretty sites".

We are going to see an increase in wildlife and particularly badger, deaths during building due to site traffic and poisonous/hazardous materials left out. That is standard. Once pushed out of traditional clan territories WHERE will the badgers go? Onto the new builds where a developer will "get rid of them on the quiet"?  Certainly you can be assured that new home owners will be driving their cars over or through wildlife.

Corrupt local authorities and corrupt governments don't care and they know that the great British 'animal loving' public will simply sit back and let them do what they want.

After 50+ years I can tell you that no matter how hard we battle the war is lost because in reality NO ONE really cares.

Portway Traffic Strike Again

 

Sad to report:

067 Thursday 11 06 2026 dead badger on Sylvian Way just off the Portway.

Not the first there and I doubt it will be the last.

Can someone stop a rescuer treating sick wildlife?(and, YES, they do regularly)

legally, they generally cannot prevent authorized professionals or a member of the public from taking a sick, injured, or orphaned wild animal to a vet or rescue for adequate treatment. However, in practice, bystanders can create conflict, and there are varying rules depending on the situation and location. [1, 2]

The Legal Standing (UK)

Taking for Treatment: The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 legally permits anyone to take a sick, injured, or protected wild animal from the wild for the express purpose of providing it with adequate treatment and supportive care until it is fit to be released. [1]
Prevention Rights: A member of the public does not "own" the wildlife on their property. Therefore, they do not have the legal right to stop an authorized person (like an RSPCA officer or a licensed wildlife rehabilitator) from recovering or helping an animal in distress.

Private Property and Trespass

Access Rights: Private landowners can prevent rescuers from physically entering their land based on trespass laws. However, if an animal is in distress, rescuers often work with local authorities to negotiate access or involve the police to prevent an animal from being subjected to unnecessary suffering. [1, 2]
Interfering with a Rescue: Intentionally obstructing a lawful wildlife rescue or abusing a rescuer can escalate into a civil dispute or even a criminal offense, particularly if the prevention leads to cruelty or a protected species being harmed. [1]

Handling and Ethics

Intervention Debates: While people generally cannot stop rescuers, there is an ongoing ethical debate surrounding the rescue of wildlife. Some individuals believe in the natural order of things (survival of the fittest) and may voice frustration or try to stop well-meaning rescuers from intervening, though this does not grant them a legal right to stop the rescue. [1, 2]
The Danger of "Killing with Kindness": The British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council actively warns that while the public's intentions are compassionate, unlicensed or untrained individuals attempting to keep and treat wild animals themselves can cause more harm or delay necessary veterinary care. [1]

How to Handle Confrontation

If a property owner or bystander is attempting to obstruct a rescue, professional organizations strongly advise the following steps: [1]

Avoid confrontation: Step away to ensure personal safety.
Document the situation: Note the location, the animal's condition, and the person preventing the rescue.
Involve authorities: Contact the Police or a national animal welfare charity (such as the RSPCA in the UK) to handle the dispute and ensure the animal receives the care it needs. [1, 2]

One Less Cub

 

A cub left by the side of the road is 066. No idea what happened to the mother.

'Thank you' to  the driver who simply drove on. About time it was made illegal to not report hitting wildlife with your vehicle.

Note to the person who said these posts are very depressing.  Well, I have had to record and look at photos of dead wildlife daily and it is what is going on in the real world.  "Mr and Mrs Badger" are not having tea under a mushroom every night with Mr and Mrs Fox.

Monday =TWO Dead Badgers

 Bristol City Council declares it is fighting for the environment and wildlife which is struggling wildlife dies because developers money is far more important than taking any action.

064 Monday 08 06 2026 (reported) Dead badger A4174 ring road heading north just near entrance to Holiday Inn near UWE turnoff ( looks like this poor thing has been there for a while so it might have already been reported - it's pretty decimated)

065 Monday 08 06 2026 Dead badger found on Southmead Rd, by the turning to Felstead Rd.

We think we know where 065 may have come from although it is possible that there is a sett in a garden in that locale. If anyone knows and can message me privately I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Badgers Can Climb? How Ridiculous!

 I was just looking at this image from South Essex Wildlife Hospital and it reminded me of other clips I have seen since trail cams and CCTV have become a thing.

I once had a chat with a woman who had a nice, 6 feet high (1.82m) wooden fence put up around her back garden. One night her husband sat up in bed quickly. "What's wrong?" She asked him. His reply was "Some ------ getting over our fence!"

The husband got up and switched on the exterior lights and looked out. Nothing. After checking no one was breaking in they settled down for the night again.

Next night at the same sort of time the woman heard the fence creak as though someone was getting over it. She woke her husband who turned on the outside lights and got a baseball bat (seriously, this is England and a cricket bat will do) and looked around. Both found it a bit unnerving and both thought at the same time that it was someone "casing" the house before breaking in.

The next night both sat up by the window and, same time, they heard something but not on the fence but on the patio. They quietly opened the window and looked down. Was it a burglar? No."It was the biggest bloody badger we've ever seen but we had no idea they were in this area!" The couple watched as the badger sniffed around and they were delighted but her husband told her "I thought we were going to catch our fence jumper!"

Both then fell silent as the badger scaled the fence, making the same noise they had heard twice before and jumped down into the garden behind. The couple had notice 'someone'[ had left a trail through the grass and realised the badger followed the same path.

The husband "made a badger hole in the fence"  and it seems the badger took that way out from then on.

Yes, badgers can climb onto low tree branches over walls and fences and, I am told, up a wall and into someone's house (makes a change from cat flaps!

Are Urban Badgers A Myth?

 We do not run around badger setts or clan territories looking for setts. After decades, including working with UK police forces, I learnt that such activity attracts the wrong sort of attention.

What we do is note where there is badger activity and although we know where a LOT of the setts are many are in private gardens and home owners protect them and do not allow anyone in to check although they do keep an eye on health issues and have our details just in case.

We know a great deal about urban foxes but there is little known on urban badgers which most 'experts' do no believe could survive in Cities.

The question is how many sett/activity locations are there in the City and County? The county as well as BANES, South Glos and N Somerset we know of some but people for specific reasons do not give out locations. Well, we are currently looking at one report and if it holds up there are a (known) total of 60 listed sites.

Even the old Avon Badger Group failed to find many of these and it is possible that their now 'lost' data may contain setts we do not know of.

Urban badgers are not myths and they are in the heart of the City.

The Badger Cub That (Didn't) Need Rescuing

 Last week Bristol Wildlife Rescue received a call about a badger cub out during the day and moving about. The rescuer went to the property and photographed the cub which was not happy that people were present so moved off into bushes. It was followed right back to a sett that the reportee had no idea was there.

This highlights two things. The main one is that badgers and particularly cubs when they get old enough will move around areas they feel safe in. They rely on smell and hearing rather than eye sight.

The second point is that such cubs should NOT be trapped and taken away as "at risk". Secret World removed two cubs from Ashton Court and were then stuck with two healthy cubs and nowhere to release them BECAUSE they had not carried out the most basic and first item on the list: contact the local badger group (BBG) and ascertain where any setts are so that the cubs can be observed and checked to see they do go back to a sett.

We need to get rid of the myths that have become 'facts' and are even promoted by rescues and wildlife hospitals because they accept dogma simply because they are not field naturalists and very few have seen a badger let along studied their behaviour.

photos (c) 2026 Bristol Wildlife Rescue/Sarah Mills