Badgers in Britain.
The distribution of badger setts ( both used and unused ) in England, Scotland and Wales has been estimated at approximately 43,000, which would mean that the badger population of this country would be around 250.000 adults. It is assumed that the highest populations of badgers tend to live in the South West of England, where large areas of countryside in those Counties provide very suitable habitat. Ideally badgers like to dig their setts into a bank or slope, where the soil is well drained and where there is both good shelter in the form of woodland cover and also a plentiful supply of food.
The wet, mild climate, where pasture and cereal crops predominate seem to suit the badgers very well and this means that they also thrive in other areas of the country.
Other places where you may find badger setts include hedgerows, open fields,river banks, disused quarries, under buildings and on coastal cliffs. Badgers living close to urban areas soon learn to find food by raiding dustbins and compost heaps, digging up garden plants, bulbs and snuffling out worms on well tended lawns causing conflicts with there human neighbours.
The wet, mild climate, where pasture and cereal crops predominate seem to suit the badgers very well and this means that they also thrive in other areas of the country.
Other places where you may find badger setts include hedgerows, open fields,river banks, disused quarries, under buildings and on coastal cliffs. Badgers living close to urban areas soon learn to find food by raiding dustbins and compost heaps, digging up garden plants, bulbs and snuffling out worms on well tended lawns causing conflicts with there human neighbours.
THE BADGER SETT.
The Main Sett.
Will have a number of entrances, used and disused, with large amounts of soil in front of the holes, called spoil heaps. Always active with well used paths. Only one main sett per social group. The setts provide shelter during the day and are also used for breeding purposes, while their surroundings are used for socialising.
The setts themselves vary greatly in size and the extent of the tunnels and number of entrances can be very considerable. A typical sett would most probably have between 3 and 10 large entrances leading to an intricate system of interconnecting tunnels and chambers.
The size of a sett can vary greatly but it is not always related to the number of badgers which are occupying it at the time. The effect of local conditions such as soil make up, ie; whether it is sandy or of a very hard clay and the number of years it has been in use, all have an impact.
The setts themselves vary greatly in size and the extent of the tunnels and number of entrances can be very considerable. A typical sett would most probably have between 3 and 10 large entrances leading to an intricate system of interconnecting tunnels and chambers.
The size of a sett can vary greatly but it is not always related to the number of badgers which are occupying it at the time. The effect of local conditions such as soil make up, ie; whether it is sandy or of a very hard clay and the number of years it has been in use, all have an impact.