Badgers - Useful information
A badger can eat up to 200 earthworms in a single night
Badgers eat hedgehogs, so be aware of this if attracting both into your garden
It is an offence in the UK to kill, injure or capture a badger, or to interfere with its sett
Few towns and cities have established urban badger populations. Badgers are reported to be most numerous in south-west London, Bristol, Bath and South Benfleet in Essex. When badgers are common in surrounding rural areas you're more likely to see them in your garden. Around 50,000 badgers are killed on the roads each year. The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is researching whether badgers spread bovine tuberculosis to cattle.
How to encourage badgers into your garden
Urban badger populations are relics from before the area was urbanised. It seems that badgers don't colonise towns in the way that foxes do, so unless they are already in the area you are unlikely to attract them. However, you could still encourage them to feed in your garden if you know there is a sett nearby.
As badgers eat a great number of earthworms at night, having an area of lawn will provide them with a good worm hunting ground.
Badgers are lovely to watch in your garden but bear in mind that they might also make a mess digging in the lawn for worms and eating flower bulbs as well as damaging hedges and fences. You could minimise damage to fences by putting in a badger 'gate' (a bit like a large cat flap).
Unless you have a very large garden, badgers are likely to use your neighbours' gardens as well, so bear this in mind. Urban badgers cover several kilometres to feed each night.
If you have a badger sett in your garden and would like further advice, contact the National Federation of Badger Groups.
What should you feed Badgers?
It's not always a good idea to feed wild animals in your garden. Feeding mammals may encourage them either to eat things that are inappropriate for their diet (or over-consume certain foods) and make them less afraid of people. However by feeding them you may help badgers, particularly during dry periods when it's difficult to dig for worms. Badger cubs are especially vulnerable at this time.
The best thing to feed badgers is specially formulated badger mix which is available from specialist wildlife feed retailers.
Badgers eat a variety of things and you can try them out on a mixture of household scraps, but they seem to like unsalted peanuts in particular. They'll also eat carrots, boiled potatoes and orchard fruit.
Badgers love worms, so by gardening organically and encouraging invertebrates you'll be helping badgers to get a meal.
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