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Badger problem
bigginbats
Posts: 5
I wonder if anyone can help me please. Badgers come into my garden every night digging big holes in the flower beds which they then poo in. I've lost most of my astilbe and candelabra primulas and just do not know what to do. HELP please!!
0
Posts
They are creatures of habit and follow scent trails and regular paths. So you need to find where they are getting into the garden and block it off. We have had to put about 100 metres of chicken wire round the garden perimeter. I know they can and will chew through it and dig under it. Here they cannot as there is the remains of wall all round us. To stop them approaching the fence we were told to put half filled clear plastic bottles as they are supposed to frighten the badgers away. It looks a bit odd, but so far no attempt has been made to damage the fence. The fencing is also loose which makes climbing it very difficult. I did hang Jeye's Fluid soaked cloths in the places where they had been coming in under the original fencing. BUT, since they have not been back so far this winter or spring I have not replaced them.
If you look on the Interweb things there is a lot of advice, but do take care, a lot of the things proposed are illegal (including the Jeye's Fluid thing).
Love badgers......but not in my garden. We have a badger problem but don't want to erect a solid fence because of our cats so we tolerate a bit of damage. The key thing we have found over the years is that they will ALWAYS return to their "toilet" and these always line the perimeter of their territory . The only way we have been able to discourage badgers is to encourage these "toilets" outside of our property and if they start one in our garden we dig out ALL the soil & poo to remove their smell in the area and leave dry teabags soaked in OLBAS oil around the area.......they hate Olbas oil!
Good luck
Last edited: 30 April 2017 06:20:40
Thank you so much for your help. Yes, I love wildlife but there are limits! I will try all those remedies and have olbas in the cupboard and some empty water bottles!
Yes, it's all down to the fencing, really. We are fighting this problem, too. The main issue seems to be to make it worth their while to find another route but they are strong and determined. Good luck.
We spent a fortune on wire fencing and made sure it went well down into the soil. Not sure if it's the badgers or foxes but there are deep holes underneath. As soon as we block one they make another! I will let you all know how I get on. Thank goodness I divided the astilbe last year so have a few more clumps around the garden. Alas, not the same for my candelabra primulas!
Why can't they dig where all the blessed bluebells are? That would save us a job as they even spread into the lawn! Perhaps I will put their poo there once they have finished flowering!
Well we dug a hole amongst the bluebells, dug out the poo and earth, put it in the bluebell hole, put the earth from the bluebells into their old hole and put t bags soaked in olbas oil around it and they ignored that and dug a hole next to it ?. Don't have any plastic water bottles but that's the next thing. Going to put the t bags in a long line tonight!!