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Badgers got my Sweetcorn for a second year

NewBoy2NewBoy2 Posts: 1,813
in Fruit & veg
The title says it all !!
Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.

Posts

  • PennypitstopPennypitstop Posts: 29
    My sister has terrible problems with badgers, sprinkling chilli powder around has deterred them a bit, but ii think they are thugs in our gardens. :(
  • SuesynSuesyn Posts: 664
    But would she work as a guard cat at the allotment?
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    You need an electric fence, set low, the sort of thing horse owners use. They cost a lot less than £6000 and run off a battery if you don't have mains power. They do no harm, whereas chilli powder is indescribably cruel. Animals - and not just badgers - get it in their eyes and the pain is dreadful.
  • barry islandbarry island Posts: 1,847
    Wow! the government have suggested killing all badgers I didn't know that?
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    No, no. Not all badgers. A proportion in areas with tb. Badgers have no natural predators and now they are a protected species their numbers have grown enormously. It's a very controversial subject, involving many interest groups, but the basic fact is that badgers are believed to spread tb to cattle and then, potentially, to us. Thousands of cattle are put down every year because they are infected and millions of pounds go in testing and compensation. Culling a relatively small number of badgers hasn't been very successful but killing the lot isn't an attractive option, either. Vaccination of badgers might be possible but has yet to be proven. Vaccination of cattle isn't currently possible.
  • Bee witchedBee witched Posts: 1,295
    Couldn't agree more @pansyface.

    The bit I don't understand is that  .... as far as I know .... the govt. in Scotland isn't killing any badgers. I see loads of badgers here .... and there are lots of beef and dairy herds locally.
    It seems that TB is not a problem up here .... it would be worthwhile finding out why this is .... and seeing if there are any useful pointers for the rest of the country.

    Bee x

    Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders  

    A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    And as soon as you empty an area of badgers more badgers move into the area to occupy the empty space ... 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    As far as I am aware, Isle of Wight badgers do not have tb  and neither do the livestock so there is no culling here. I believe there are many problems but among the greatest are the movement of livestock over long distances and the difficulty of keeping wild and domestic animals apart. I imagine  that a very severe reduction in badger numbers might have an effect but would not be acceptable to the public, while radical changes in farming seem unlikely. Certainly, keeping farm animals inside all year would raise welfare issues. I wonder what other people here believe might be the answer - especially those with farming experience?
  • NewBoy2NewBoy2 Posts: 1,813
    I wish I had never posted now.

    Its like mentioning Bxexit

    Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.
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