25th February 2025

I put those photos up yesterday with not much explanation because of a headache.  And then I find there are occasions when people do not understand the creatures around them such as the badger.  Well let us say I have been an animal activist occasionally through my life and at one time campaigned and went on protection rounds to keep an eye on the badgers in the place I lived, which was the outskirts of Bath.  The enemy was badger baiters, they came from Bristol in their white vans with their dogs and raided a venerable old badger holt on the hills behind the village.  You can imagine the dogs killing the badgers.  A bill finally went through Parliament protecting the badgers and making it a criminal offense to take badgers from the wild.

Then of course TB was recognised in the badgers, and then these creatures were  killed and gassed to stop the badgers infecting the cows with the disease but it is a two way problem of course.

In my youth as well I sported on my car leaflets condemning the use of beagle dogs in experiments of finding out whether shampoo hurt our human eyes or even worse making these poor dogs inhale cigarette smoke to see what damage cigarettes would inflict.  I think we have grown up a bit more as to experimentation, but every time you condemn animal activists remember the cruelty inflicted on innocent animals.

And then my tale of an encounter in the back garden at midnight many years ago with a badger.  I have always had animals so this is about my chickens.  Woken up by a squawking chicken, I rushed out with my faithful Moss by my side.  A badger was chasing the chicken around the garden, it had obviously lifted the nesting box lid and the bird had flown out.

The badger seemed oblivious of my presence and Moss sat at the top of a flight of steps refusing to be part of the gang chasing a wild animal.  Eventually pennies dropped and the badger made its escape.  The chicken unharmed but shaken was eventually found cowering behind a plant.

Badger setts can be found all over the country, they are the permanent residence of creatures who are almost tribal in their manner and when we break up these family groups it is very cruel.   There is even a badger sett in the East Kennet long barrow, though it is on private farmland difficult to see.