The Badger Man
April 2025
People refer to me as the Badger Man. In truth I am one of many and there are twice or three times as many women in my line of work including one lady in who lives in Crich and who is held in high esteem.
It was this lady who taught me my trade. I make it sound like an occupation and certainly it occupies a good percentage of my time since I retired12 years ago.
What does a Badger Man do?
I am one of a group of activists in mid Derbyshire committed to the protection of badgers.
The group has over 100 members but only a smaller number of 20 or 30 volunteers able and willing to devote time and energy to the many tasks we perform.
Our first and foremost task is the protection of setts, the badger’s underground home which can extend many meters below the surface.
The sett is very clean. There is no food or poo allowed in the sett, which makes sense because they have super sensitive noses. Some say their sense of smell is 800 times better than ours.
They have their own family group smell and anoint trees rocks and soil with this smell which enables them to get around in the dark with poor eyesight.
Their pathways, which hardly vary for hundreds of years, are smell pathways. Off they trot along the same routes night after night seeking their favourite food, worms!
It is true when worms are scarce because the ground is frozen or baked hard by the sun, they will seek other sources of food, small mammals, carrion or birds’ eggs.
They also eat insects, fruit and corn, but worms are favourite, up to 200 worms a day!
The cubs are usually born underground in early February and for the first 6 weeks remain underground suckled by their mother who is very protective.
In late March April they appear above the surface with their mother and follow her around learning how to fend for themselves.
About this time there are many badger fatalities on our roads as the adolescent badgers are expected to leave and find new setts to occupy
It is one of the jobs of the badger activists to sadly attend to the deaths, confirming they are dead not injured and making sure they haven’t been shot, a criminal offence, which we will report to the police,
Badgers are still being hunted by man and his dogs, often pulled out of his sett and placed in a confined space with dogs who are trained to kill them, whilst people stand around placing bets as to how long it lasts. A hideous crime which we work with the police to stop.
Badgers also die from careless developers who allow builders to drive excavators over setts often smothering families of badgers before they have a chance to escape.
Such an incident happened recently in our local area. The police are seeking a prosecution, but the evidence must be strong.
The only enemy a badger has is man. This wonderful creature existed long before man set foot on this earth and is not likely to be aggressive unless cornered and feels threatened but be aware they have a nasty bite.
People have killed 230,000 badgers in recent years believing they spread a disease to cows called Bovine Tuberculosis, but most recent research contradicts this claim, and we are working hard with other badger groups to stop the cull.
One of my roles is education. We have a team of members, including teachers and childcare workers, ready and able to talk to children about badgers.
We use a variety of activities to engage with children of different ages. Currently we are invited into primary schools, cubs and brownies and are always open to other suggestions.
We can also provide speakers to adult community groups like the RSPB, Women’s Institutes and Retirement Homes.
So, there is always plenty to do. I can spend a morning investigating where someone has deliberately blocked a sett entrance, talking to local people, gathering evidence and liaising with the Rural Crime team and then move on to talk to the Local Council about Road Traffic Signs warning of badgers and finally leading a group of cubs, along with other members, in a fun activity learning about the life of badgers
If you would like to know more, please get in touch with via the Mid Derbyshire Badger Group or follow their Facebook Group.
I can also usually be found on a stall at Crich Share & Repair Cafes chatting about badgers and recycling, another passion!
David, The Badger Man
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