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Badger in garden

sachks17sachks17 Posts: 7
in Problem solving
I’ve got a video of a badger in my garden which has been digging holes. I have a mesh wire fence at the back but it’s obviously getting in still. Is a fence like this good enough to keep a badger out
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  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    A badger would just tunnel under a fence like that or a wire mesh fence. They are also good climbers so can go over as well as under. You would need to extend strong wire mesh a couple of feet below the surface to discourage them. They will bulldoze their way through any weak point so you need to ensure that any barriers you use are fully secure.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    edited August 2021
    A determined badger will easily and quickly dig under a standard fence to gain access.  It depends on how 'interested' it is in your garden and whether your garden forms a vital part of its route between established foraging areas and the sett it lives in.  If you are lucky, after erecting strong fencing, your garden won't be worth the effort of digging to gain entry, otherwise it will likely make multiple attempts, and you will likely see the new fence damaged.  Wire link fencing etc. can be buried deep at the side of the fence into the soil to prevent them digging under, but obviously there's a lot of work needed to build a truly badger-proof fence.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    We found that if the wire mesh fencing was not stretched tight so that if a badger tried to climb it the wire leant over backwards. It stopped them. Agree that they would dig under any fence.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    They wouldn't climb a two metre  high strong fence though - would they? I can't imagine them getting over the top and down the other side, they'd be too big and heavy surely.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    edited August 2021
    They have been seen climbing a 12 feet tall fence. Shown on video on TV sometime back.
    And if they cannot climb a wire fence they will bite their way through it. Seen them do that in our previous garden.
    We did try something suggested by a famous person's gardener. We half filled plastic bottles and positioned them around the perimeter. That is supposed to stop them digging. Not sure if it was that which worked or what, but we had no more trouble with them after doing it.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    Learn to live with it and enjoy.

    I emailed a reptile charity to ask their advice about a grass snake in my pond.  They said how lucky I was, a few alien fish were a good swap.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    I disagree with the above post. Badgers can do a lot of damage in a garden. If you can find a way to keep them out without harming them I'd go for it.
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I hope you can resolve it @sachks17. They can certainly cause a lot of damage to a lawn, and as the others have said, it can difficult to deter them.
    We have them nearby, and I often see them in gardens as it's on a route I use,  but not in the immediate area - fortunately! 
    I'm more likely to see them squished on the road  :/

    @Palustris - that's also supposed to work with moles isn't it? Although I think you put them into the runs. I'm not sure how effective it is though. I seem to remember someone on the forum saying they tried it and it didn't work. Perhaps it's better on badgers   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Badgers can climb but they prefer to dig. You need a really tough mesh - not chicken wire and never plastic - buried at least 12 inches and then curved outwards under the soil. Initially, you will need to check and repair regularly, but you can win in the end. Only those who do not have regular badger visits envy those who do, they are most destructive, not only of lawns, but of every inch and the latrines they make to mark their territory will make you think you were lucky with the cat poo. However, they do destroy wasp nests.
  • sachks17sachks17 Posts: 7
    Thanks for the replies. I definitely won’t live with it. I just returfed the lawn and it’s destroyed (recently moved in)
    probably going to get a goood fence and the sound repellent and see how it goes
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