Swimming In A Sea of Indifference

 

Take a look at this map. 

This the area I am supposed to cover and check up on badgers and record deaths IF any information is ever given. It is also, supposedly, the area I should cover with fox recording -not sure what distance Sarah Mills accepts but she has covered this area before.

The nearest wildlife rescue/hospital is Vale in Gloucestershire which is 100 miles there and back. The other place is in Somerset and 60+ miles there and back BUT I would never take a sick or injured fox there.

The City and County is a big area of 606.5 kilometres or 377 miles.

Why has Bristol got no wildlife hospital? For one thing money. Even a small place will cost a few thousand a year to keep going and when it comes to vets and meds per year a good few thousand would be needed. For 15 years I have suggested we need a wildlife hospital or at least a rescue where wildlife can be held until ready for release. A post just suggesting this was removed from Bristol's two big wildlife groups FB page for "campaigning" -I was simply giving the pros and cons of wildlife care but who cares?

Certainly not people in Bristol. 90% have no interest until they find injured or sick birds, foxes, badgers or deer and then they bleat loudly about "someone needs to sort this out" or "I can't do anything -can someone help?" And the verbal abuse that I can receive (and Sarah Mills has had similar) is uncalled for since in a number of cases we have to explain we are not a paid street clean team and do not pick up and dispose of dead animals.

Offer advice and there is always a reason why "I can't do that -you should!"

Again, all unpaid and sadly my old peers (who were all getting on back in the 1990s) who treated wildlife in situ because vets would not touch wild animals have all passed on. Vets do not treat wildlife for free if a full course of treatment is needed. They have gotten better and a few have gone beyond what was expected. However, some still try to charge for first response treatment -which should be free (they forget their veterinary oaths).

"Become a charity" well, there are no donations high enough for us to register a charity.

Premises. That is the biggest hurdle because you need a site that is secure and where several large holding sheds can be put up and no neighbours complaining about animal smells or noise.; Good luck with that.

It is a case of no finances and no premises. Even if enough was donated to cover costs for a year take a look at other legitimate rescues who struggle -and look at the toll it takes on the people running them.

Rescue and treatment in Bristol, as across the UK, is a case of "fly by the seat of your pants" day to day and adapt. Great things have been achieved by treating facial, leg and other wounds in situ; based on the practice of a past rescue the over 600 foxes treated and saved in Bristol in the last three years would, prior, all have been put down.

If each of the thousands of people on Bristol wildlife groups each donated £1 then that would help keep rescuing and treating going and we (myself and Sarah) are VERY grateful to those who do donate but it is a small group and it shows the lack of interest in Bristol to care for its wildlife.

That's the problem so if any multi-millionaires read this and love wildlife -get in touch!

The Secrecy is Understandable BUT is NOT Helping Badgers

To make it clear all information is considered confidential and (as in a response below) edited if posted. However, the public that do care about wildlife are entitled to see what is going on to help foxes, badgers or whichever.
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 Just back for this update to show why monitoring our wildlife is near impossible in one area (Bristol and South Gloucestershire) let alone other regions. Some of us are trying to protect and conserve badgers amongst other species as well as monitor their health.

I contacted Avon Against The Cull more than once. No response.

I contacted Somerset Badger Watch several times and in fact alerted them to badger deaths in Somerset reported to me and despite all that -no response to requests about Bristol information they have.

As I pointed out to BRERC between 1977-2018 (and still occasionally) I was a wildlife consultant to UK police forces. That means that I can keep locations and data secret. We NEED to know what badger setts are already recorded in Bristol but it seems that no one wants to cooperate including BRERC.

BRERC (Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre) sent me this:

"Hi Terry

"You mention a Bristol Badger Group which also covers South Glos. Is this the same as the Avon Badger Group - we understood Caroline was the Avon Badger Group. In 1999 ish Avon Badger Group withdrew it's sett data (about 500 records) from BRERC, although Caroline has sent us records recently.

"BRERC has a GIS mapped Badger sett layer with over 2,000 sett locations, dating back to the 1980s. We cover Bristol, South Glos, BNES and North Somerset.

"All sett data is treated as confidential by BRERC, and so Badger setts are not available online.

!We've previously made the data available electronically to the Somerset Badger Group and the Avon Badger Group (Mike Collins) and we could make it available to you with Recorder details removed as a GIS layer. This information would not be able to be published by you.

We also have a layer of dead Badger records - however this hasn't been updated recently.

I've had a look and the nearest sett records we have to (confidential) Road are at (comfidential -TH)

"Best wishes

Abigail"

Caroline is now in her 80s and no longer active. Mike Coillins died 2017 so all of the valuable data is lost.

However, I had hoped Caroline trusted me so I asked about the sett records and badger PM reports. This was her reply:

""Hi Terry

"if BRERC has lost our sett records although it was ten years’ hard work for me as they might have fallen into the wrong hands.

"I have found BRERC most cooperative in my dealings. I think the personal approach and word of mouth works best for passing on information. My red dots on Ordnance Survey maps will go to the grave with me!

All the best

Caroline""

This means that, quite literally, I am walking in the dark. I have a list of areas/setts I know of but again and again other groups have been non-communicative or just bloody awkward. At this rate we will lose more badger and more quickly than I forecast but so long as everyone sits on their secret box of papers that's perfectly fine (it seems)

Wildlife Welfare and Care in the UK is a Disgrace

 I am so utterly 😠 off by wildlife rescues and wildlife vets.

We had a badger fall into a sunken garden last Thursday but it was not reported until Tuesday. It was dehydrated and needed some feeding but first response and wildlife vets stated no injuries.  This was not a young badger by any means.

Anyway, the reason I am so trying so hard  not to swear, today I was told that the badger was put down as it was found to be blind. Initially it was thought temporary blindness due to dehydration but no.

Were any wildlife parks, etc, contacted to see whether they would take the badger? No. "A blind badger is like a three legged fox and CANNOT survive in the wild so it has to be killed". Let me quote you exactly what I would have told the wildlife vet as well as anyone else -in fact, not me: I  will quote other sources:

"...badgers do not rely heavily on their eyesight. They are primarily nocturnal animals with small eyes and their vision is not very acute. Instead, they rely more on their strong sense of smell and hearing to navigate their environment, find food, and detect potential threats. "

Wildlife Online https://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/animals/article/european-badger-senses

"“Naturalists universally agree that badgers have an acute sense of smell, pretty good hearing and rather poor vision. However, this view is based almost entirely on anecdotal evidence: very few experiments have been conducted to investigate the nature and limits of the badger’s sensory world, and hardly anything has been written about the structure of the sense organs themselves or about the parts of the brain that serve a sensory function.”

Binfield Badger Group https://www.binfieldbadgers.org.uk/copy-of-badger-ecology

"Eyesight

Badgers do not rely heavily on their eyesight and their eyes are small, in common with other burrowing animals.    It is pitch dark underground where even the best pair eyes will be useless.  Their eyes do, however, have a reflective layer to enhance their night-time vision when above ground.   Their night sight is better than ours but to enable this they have given up the ability to see colours as we do." 

In fact, I can quote another 20 sources on the subject. Vets and wildlife rescues do not study the subject of badgers (or foxes) or carry out any field study. They refer to or were taught based on out of date books by people who were taught the same thing because their "job" is not studying the animals involved.

The UK is quite literally retarded when it comes to vets or wildlife rescues/wildlife vets and actual wildlife.  It was asked that the badger involved in this incident not be taken to one known as the "Put To Sleep Centre" and it was thought it would get the best treatment at another wildlife hospital. We were wrong. 

If a blind badger survived in the wild and was only found to be blind because stupid humans do not think that dangerous drops into gardens need to have barriers there is no reason why it should not have lived on.

PTS. Hands washed of the "problem".

This now means that there is no wildlife hospital/rescue in the UK that gets a rating from me above 1.

The UK is a ****** disgrace when it comes to wildlife and the welfare and treatment is just as bad.  Will that statement make me enemies? Yes. Do I care? ABSOLUTELY NOT. The animal involved is far more important than any offended human ego

Bristol's Urban Badgers Never Fail To Amaze

 Badgers in Bristol never cease to amaze me -rather like foxes. I have posted before that Bristol as it is today is nothing like it used to be; over the years it has sprawled out and taken in many villages such as Bedminster, Hotwells, Stapleton, Knowle, Whitchurch, Clifton village, Patchway, Frenchay, Eastville, Stapleton and so on. As seen in this 18th century map.  

Each of those villages would be separated by countryside, woods and so on and there would have been badger setts that were local. As Bristol expanded so badger territories were built on until we have what we see today (interestingly, when I grew up and well into the 1980s before the council plan of moving people around, you could tell what area of Bristol people came from by their accents -developed when villages were mainly isolated as all travel was by horse or horse and cart or on foot until bus services arrived.)

The same applies with foxes whose traditional territories we built over. Another interesting fact is that while our Old type British foxes were wiped out through hunting -as were other species-  I was always puzzled as to how badgers survived. Basically, to combat mange which hunts brought into the UK by importing European foxes, badgers were moved around the country as they were seen as clean and their sanitary work supposedly kept areas mange free.  I have to say that I doubt badger movement stopped mange in foxes but the 'experts' on foxes were only expert on knowing how to kill animals. But the movement probably saved badgers who were killed (cubs and adults) for bounties or 'fun'.

The 1970s protection granted the species (foxes were on the decline but, you know, 'sport' and all that) meant anyone who care gave a sigh of relief. But they were then used as a scapegoat species in bovine TB to cover up the major problems in animal husbandry. So a protected species became a good money earner for louts with guns and centre of political corruption for votes and focus of very bad 'science'.  Books with information on badgers by non UK writers will point out that badgers are recognised as a "scapegoat species" but in the UK -"who cares? Love Island is on TV!"

That there are a good population of badger clans in some of the most built up and worst traffic areas on Bristol is surprising. We see losses (68 as of 14 07 25) but they continue to exist despite Bristol City Council (Labour and Green Party) stating they have no interest in taking any action to protect them as "we don't have the budget".  The national HQ of the Green Party fobbed off the subject by re-directing the email to its City Council which responded "too busy".

"We are so proud of our environment and wildlife" is a slogan all politicians and groups use in Bristol while ignoring the huge number of deaths (not so good in publicity). 

(c)2025 Sarah Mills/Bristol Fox Lady

Today, Sarah Mills, known better as "the Bristol Fox Lady" was asked to help a fox that had fallen into a sunken garden but could not get out. It was reported today but had fallen into the garden last Thursday (10th July!!). It took digging to remove it from a rockery and a quick trip to a vet for first aid then a 100 mile there and back trip to Vale Wildlife Hospital where the badger was checked and needs feeding, rehydration before being returned.

The problem is that it is in a heavily urbanised area so the task is to find the sett and people locally MUST know where the badgers are but fingers and everything else crossed someone will tip us off (we treat any locations given confidentially as the animals protection is paramount.

If anything the badgers and foxes show us that Bristol green gardens and spaces are healthy environments that need protecting  as much as the two mammals and let's face it: both are excellent pest controllers with the fox hunting and removing thousands of rats each year from our City.

I ought to point out that "nuisance" behaviour of badgers regarding fruit crops has been noted but how is it a nuisance?  We take over their ancestral territories and build on them or use them as allotments and badgers forage for food and strawberry bushes are food as are other vegetables. It is good to note that some allotment tenants "put up with" badgers foraging or even put out food that helps sustain them.

It is just a pity that our City Council as well as organisations such as the BBC (which likes to use Bristol badgers and foxes for its filming) do not get together to promote foxes and badgers and try to make people aware of the numbers killed on our roads (mainly through speeding cars) each year.  EVERYONE needs to help before we lose our urban wildlife species.

Just When You Thought You Knew How Big An Area You Covered....

 

A week ago I was informed of a badger death in South Gloucestershire.  It was a sow and looked as though it might still be feeding young.  As I normally do if I hear of such an incident I contact the local badger group which in this case would be Gloucestershire Badger Group,

Photos and location were sent.  Then someone sent me those photos and the info and asked whether I had heard about this. I explained that I did as it was the info Sarah Mills, the Bristol Fox Lady, gave me and I sent to Gloucestershire. 

I then got a message from the Gloucestershire group and one of their members to inform me that they had no one who could look into this.  Both explained that the South Gloucestershire area was considered as "Bristol". At this point I became cross-eyed.

It seems that despite the last county border changes South Gloucestershire has and is considered "Bristol".

The up-shot is that at least we know where one badger sett is and that on the same day as the w badger's body was searched for by a volunteer (THANK YOU) another dead badger was found.  The dead sow was moved close to the sett in case there were young inside who would come out if they smelt their mother. None apparently have.

It now means that the Bristol Badger Group now covers an area as shown in this handy Bristol City Council map.    

That means a lot of back checking to see what setts are known and hope that the unscientific scape goat cull has not killed off too many in the area.  Sadly, it may also mean recording even more badger RTA deaths -deaths in Bristol that we know of so far in 2025 total 65.

Labour Party Pushes Ahead With Badger Extermination

 The Labour Party, which KNOWS the facts, are to kill more badgers. Protect local badgers to try to delay extinction. This is deliberate extermination of a species through scientific and political corruption.

The Badger Trust

BREAKING: Labour Government Approves Another Year of Badger Culling

Despite the hope of our last post and in a deeply concerning move, Natural England has reissued Supplementary Badger Cull licences for 2025 — the very same licences currently under legal challenge by Badger Trust and Wild Justice.

Despite a pending court case and scientific criticism, the Government is pressing ahead with this discredited and brutal policy. Over 240,000 badgers have already been killed — 75% by inhumane free shooting — with no clear evidence that it's tackling bovine TB effectively.

So we ask again: Why is the Government ignoring its own scientific advice? Why double down on a failed approach?

As our CEO, Nigel Palmer, says: “The badger blame game must end now.”

It’s time to stop scapegoating wildlife and demand real solutions to bTB.

Read the full article now on our website https://bit.ly/455PW0I

Number of Badger Deaths Reported In Bristol and the Need to Keep Campaigning

 

Up to today, 02 06 2025 we have recorded some 52 badger deaths within the City and surrounding area. As noted previously this is very unlikely to be the true figure as people are still failing to report dead mammals.

52 dead badgers is very concerning since we have also had at least one heavily pregnant sow killed this year. The concern is that other badgers reported could be nursing sows which means that there may be cubs in a sett that will starve to death. This is just in one City so imagine the losses nationally!

The badger in the photo above was struck by one car and crawled under another to die. This is the reality of wildlife work.

Bristol City (Green Party) Council as well as the Green Party National HQ have no concerns over the losses and I have that in writing because it would involve spending money.  Meanwhile I continue my weekly messages to Steve Reed MP, Keir Starmer, DEFRA and Natural England.

I really hate to say it but badgers are heading for extinction.