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Badger Trust Sussex

Newsletter
Newsletter No. 63 Winter 2014

Editorial

Individual
Highlights:
Incidents

Crime

Op Meles

Social Media

About Us

Badger Trust Sussex

Hotline Number
07910198720

As many of you will know, Pat and I have struggled to find enough time
to do all the things that could (and should) be done for Badger Trust
Sussex for some while now. It was therefore a great relief when Stuart
Paton joined our group and actively became involved and assisted on
many fronts. I was particularly pleased when he offered to do the
Newsletter as I do very much appreciate how important internal
communications are to the group. Apart from the couple of handfuls of
people who turn up at the open meetings (yes we do still have them on
the second Tuesday of every month from September through to June
with the exception of January) we dont get to update any of you on
just what is happening in the badger world. As I say, I was pleased and
it came as a great relief. However, it was short-lived as barely had I
relaxed when Stuart asked me to write an editorial! Well at least that is
better than writing the whole thing.
I am sure that elsewhere in this newsletter you will be able to read that
we do still function. Stuart himself has been involved with many
issues/projects and our gallant band of field officers continues to help
whenever they can. That acknowledged, there is no doubt that we
.
need to improve. In common with just about every other badger group
and many other voluntary organisations, we could do with a lot more
active members
I could easily quickly highlight some of our achievements and
escapades but that would be stealing Stuarts thunder as I know he
has much to report and many images to back up his text. So I will wish
him every bit of good luck with his task, ask you all to send him a
contribution to the newsletter if you can, but most importantly ask you
all to consider becoming a bit more active yourselves and to
encourage others to join.
Jeff Hayden
Old Ed.

Badger Trust Sussex

Hotline Number
07910198720

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Badger Trust Sussex

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Bob or Bobbett

"He went into the bar

trouble was he never
bought a round"

Badger Trust Sussex

were asked to visit a golf
club where they had a
badger that was giving
them some concerns.
The small badger had
turned up some time ago
and had become tame
with the staff. Bob as he
was known by the staff
had visited the kitchen,
was a regular in the
smoking area, had
wandered into the bar and
had even entered the

doorway when there was

a swing band night on. He
showed no fear. We went
down to try and trap him
as there appeared
something wrong. The first
night he eluded the trap
choosing to steal the
spare bait of peanut butter
that had been put to one
side. Bob even eluded the
grasper. He was heard in
the bushes after he
escaped sneezing and
snuffling which gave us
some worries

A trap was left on site. A

call was received stating
Bob had been captured so
he was taken to Folly
Wildlife Rescue. Bob was
checked out and the first
thing to discover was 'he'
was a girl, Bob is Bobbet.
After a few days of
recuperation Bobbet was
sent to the vet. It was
found that she had an
enlarged heart, liver and
spleen so the humane
thing was to euthanize
her.

The story is positive....Sometimes

We were called out to
Homestall Road, Forest
Row to a badger that
appeared to have been hit
by a car. The caller had
been able to move it away
from the road to a safer
position. When we arrived
the badger appeared
dazed but still relatively
mobile. He was caught,
caged and taken to Folly
Wildlife Rescue at
Tunbridge Wells.
Initial examinations
revealed that there were

no broken bones, some

head trauma and the
badger was suffering from
water on the lungs.
Everything looked
positive.
So after some great
tender loving care from
the staff at Folly this
badger was ready for
release.
So we returned to the
exact location we had
picked up from and after
letting the original caller
and their children have a

Events
Pat and Jeff Hayden have
had the Badger Trust
Sussex stall out to many
events this last year They
have been attempting to
raise funds for the group
They have been out in
East Grinstead, Uckfield
Brighton and other parts

of Sussex in various types

of our lovely British
weather.
I know they would
welcome any assistance
to run the stall at future
events.

Badger Trust Sussex

Hotline Number
07910198720

quite look the badger was

released.

Badger Trust Sussex

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East Grinstead
September 2012 BT-S
were called out to a road
in East Grinstead by a
man who was trying to sell
his house but had a large
quantity of earth coming in
from his neighbour. We
discovered that the
neighbour had what
appeared to be a small
sett under the garage.
Badgers had been seen
but no one at that property
was worried as they were
tenants. Roll forward to
May 2014 and we were
recalled to the same
addresses this time by the
new occupants who had
purchased the old rented
house. They were worried

about the sett under the

garage. They knew
nothing about badgers.
Whether they could attack
the children or bring the
garage crashing down.
First thing was to discover
whether the sett under the
garage had changed. It
had looking into the
entrance you could see all
the tunnels and the small
piles of concrete holding
up the garage floor. The
next thing was to discover
whether the sett was being
in use as this would
determine what could be
done to the garage. So a
wildlife camera was set up
over a couple of days. The

first findings only showed

local cats and foxes
around the area. More film
time was needed. The
camera was left for a few
more days. Success
Badger was caught on film
sitting scratching near the
entrance to the sett. Then
more footage showed the
animal entering so we had
proved the sett was in use.
More footage was to
reveal that a second
smaller badger perhaps a
female exiting the sett. So
the occupiers were
advised what steps they
could take with regard to
their garage.

The sett under the garage

Crime or No Crime
BT-S were contacted by a
lady who stated that she
had spotted a badger
dead at the side of the
road about two weeks
previously, but did not
think much about it at the
time as there are a lot of
setts in the area. While
she was passing it again
she thought there was a
black cord around the
badgers neck and notice a
number of puncture
wounds on the body she
called the RSPCA who
passed it onto BT-S
When seen as reported
there appeared to be a
black cord or packing tape

around the neck of the

animal. The carcass was
in a bad state of
decomposing.
There were lots of signs of
what appeared to be post
mortem animal attacks
around the inner back leg
area.
On closer examination of
the cord it was found to
actually be the intestines
of the animal which had
been dragged out of its
body, a lot of the vital
organs were also
exposed.
Conclusion was that this
badger had been hit as a
result of an Road Traffic

Collision, had laid at the

side of the road and then
had started to be
consumed as carrion by
local animals.
Outcome; Not a crime.

Badger Trust Sussex

Hotline Number
07910198720

Operation Meles states

that almost 700 crimes
against Badgers took
place in 2013"

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Badger Trust Sussex

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Operation Meles from Scottish Badgers

697 Reported Badger

incidents in 2013 up on
2012. How many do we
expect in 2014?.

The operation continues

to record all incidents
reported to them and
having finally collated all
the figures it would appear
that at least:
697 took place last year
(2013)
(353 incidents 2012).
We do not claim to have
all the incidents
reported throughout the
UK collected together but

we continue to strive to
record as many as
possible. If it is not
recorded then we havent
been told about it.
If you have an incident
and you want it recorded
then please email the
sanitised details to

websites and report it

online.

Ian@scottishbadgers.org.uk

or alternatively you could

visit either the Badger
Trust or Scottish Badgers

Non Badger Calls on the Hotline

Over the last year several
Hotline calls have been
received which were
unconnected with
badgers. Calls about dogs
were mainly concerns that
they would be attacked by
badgers who visited their
gardens.
Some calls were about
wildlife from all corners of
England. We received one
call regarding an injured

seagull near St. Ives,

Cornwall. Calls to injured
foxes in Derbyshire and
County Durham. During
the summer there were
calls regarding injured
hedgehogs in Somerset,
Lancashire and Cumbria.
We are not sure whether
we were being contacted
because badgers were
being blamed and it was
"OUR" duty to help.

Sett Management.

we can coexist rather

than destroy our wildlife
heritage.

Our Field officer Jackie

has been involved with
two sites which are
subject to development
that both have setts on the
land.
The first is a development
of flats in an urban area
where an active main sett
exists. The local council,
ecologists and Badger
Trust Sussex drew up
conditions that the sett
would remain and be
protected with an physical
exclusion zone.

The resident badgers still

have enough range to
survive and the forage
routes to the local park
are not restricted.
The sett on the second
site on a similar
development was not
given the same initial
protection. The sett is on
the edge of a car park
with no room to expand.
The badgers can now only
visit gardens at the back
to the sett to survive. This
has caused them to dig

Badger Trust Sussex

Hotline Number
07910198720

Early morning calls

received, to rescue deer,
owls and a polecat
believed injured by road
traffic collisions in areas
such as Wales,
Hampshire and Devon.
The received Sussex calls
were for seagulls, deer
and foxes. Hopefully the
badger hotline has saved
some of these animals
with the assistance of
many wildlife hospitals
who we thank.
new entrances in the
gardens making them
unpopular due to the
damage they are causing
to the gardens.
Are the badgers to blame?
Is it time that future
developments should be
more sensitive to all the
resident wildlife and
manage the sites so that
we can coexist rather than
destroy our wildlife
heritage.

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Badger Trust Sussex

What a mistake to make!

When I first started to
deal and attend badger
incidents for Badger Trust
Sussex. I must admit I
was not exact on
recording the details of the
incidents. This I was later
to discover has come to
let me down.
On one occasion I went to
premises in Haywards
Heath to discuss with the
owners a possible sett.
I inspected the garden
but took no photos or
notes at the time.
Not a good move!
During the investigation I
was unable to conclude
whether the sett was
active or not at the time so

the owners were advised

as what they could
lawfully do.
Move on two years, I had
to return to the same area
for another Badger
enquiry. A badger
appeared to have a day
sett under some decking
in a garden close to the
original venue.
While investigating the
location I was able to see
into the original garden,
which appeared to have
been dug over.
This possibly had caused
disturbance to the original
sett.
A possible crime against
the badgers.

Trouble was I could not

state whether the sett had
been previously active
and I had recorded
nothing at the time.
The incident details still
were reported to Scottish
Badgers to be place on
the system.
So every incident I visit
now.....Notes more notes
plans and Photos!

Badger Trust Sussex Tweets

We live in a fast time,
Information Technology
world where interested
people expect information
on what is going on
immediately.
So that we can provide
this quick time information
and to get Badger Trust
Sussex news out to a
wider audience we have
burst forward into the
world of social media.
Since the summer of 2013
Badger Trust Sussex has
a Facebook page and
Twitter page.
For those who may not be
aware Facebook is a
popular free social

networking website that

allows registered users to
create profiles, upload
photos and video, send
messages and keep in
touch with friends, family
and colleagues. Twitter is
an online social
networking service that
enables users to send and
read short 140-character
messages called "tweets".
The idea behind this is that
people may find out about
us on these social media
sites and join us to protect
the Badger.
Find us on Facebook and
Twitter as Badger Trust
Sussex

Badger Trust Sussex

Hotline Number
07910198720

Find Badger Trust

Sussex on both
FACEBOOK and
TWITTER.

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Badger Trust Sussex

About Our Badger Trust Sussex

Were on the Web!

See us at:

www.badgertrustsussex.org.uk
Find us on
Twitter

And on
Facebook

Members of Badger Trust

- Sussex actively
participate in a variety of
conservation projects
aimed at protecting
badger setts. These
include physical protection
of setts and a range of
projects to assist
landowners in the
conservation of badgers
on their property.
As well as giving advice to
people who wish to
encourage badgers on
their land, we also give
general guidance to those
who experience badgerrelated problems.

Our Sales Team attends

many country fairs and
other events at which our
activities are promoted.
We also provide speakers
and slide shows for other
clubs and societies.
Another vital part of the
activities of Badger Trust Sussex involves the
surveying, checking and
recording of existing and
new setts.
This information is then
made available for use,
when necessary, as
evidence in prosecutions
and for ensuring the future
protection of the badgers'

For Membership details

please contact:
Mrs Pat Hayden,
Secretary
Badger Trust - Sussex
Vacuna
Eden Vale
East Grinstead
West Sussex
RH19 2JJ

habitat, particularly in
connection with planning
applications.

Next Issue:
If you would like to
contribute to future issues
of the newsletter you can
submit an Badger related
artical of about 150 words
to Stuart Paton at
Badger1062@icloud.com
A reminder: We have open
meetings at 7:30pm on the
second Tuesday of every
month from September
through to June with the
exception of January. These
are held in
The Centenary Hall, St
Wilfrids Way,Haywards

To save our forests If you would prefer to have future newsletters

sent via email on a Word document please send your name and
email address to Stuart Paton at Badger1062@icloud.com

Badger Trust Sussex

Hotline Number
07910198720