One the way back from the library this morning I came across a dead badger by the side of the main road, about half a mile west of my road. I went back this evening to check it out and note any details for the record.
When I got there the badger had gone. All I found, among the litter, fast food wrappers and wheel trims, was a decomposing deer (not pleasant!). As I was in the area, I walked down the verge for a hundred yards or so to see what I could find. The verge here is substantial, varying from 20-40 feet wide, with the road on one side and a boundary wall on the other. There are mature trees and varied undergrowth, from grass and bracken to big patches of nettles and brambles (not the place to be wearing shorts, as I found out).
It was a fascinating little area. I doubt if anyone has walked there or even seen it for years, even though thousands pass by on the main road right alongside. I doubt if there is enough space for full badger sett (they would need to cross the road to reach a decent foraging area, and if this was the case I’d have seen more casualties) but there was a network of paths. Following these, I came across a huge wasps’ nest that had been dug out, so there are obviously badgers in the area. There were wasps still present, so it had been dug out recently, possibly by the same badger that was killed on the road.
I don’t know if this means there is a sett nearby and the verge is part of their territory, or whether this was a lone badger, but it’s given me more clues about the badgers in the area. One thing still puzzles me though – the missing body of the badger. I mean, what sort of person goes round picking up dead badgers off the road? Apart from me, obviously…
Tales from the Wood - The Diary of a Badger Watching Man 
Could someone from the local badger group have picked up the dead badger
Hi Frank – that was quick!
I don’t think anyone in the Bedfordshire group will be doing this, although I believe there was a chap a few years ago who was collecting badger skulls for a study. A lot of people will move a badger carcase off the road, but they usually just drop them on the verge nearby (off course, someone may have done this and I didn’t find it). I met a chap years ago who made shaving brushes, and he used bristles from fresh roadkill badgers. I remember reading somewhere that the council is responsible for collecting roadkill, so this is possible too.
I don’t know how the badger had been there – it may have been an ‘eater’ (hey, apparently some people do this!). I hope there isn’t someone out there who is making himself a real badger suit, Silence of the Lambs style…
I have known a person in the far past who’d collect a Badger carcass off the road for the skull, perhaps? Badger suit Mmmmmm not sure I know of anyone quite that damaged :o)
Regards,
John
big demand in China / far east just now for manufacturing FAKE Scottish Highland dress, badger sporrans have been “outlawed” for many years but I do believe they are being advertised still for sale on the net …… just a thought!
Any passing Asian dell boy might make a quick yen or two.
Chinese badger sporrans? It’s possible of course, but we’re not really on the beaten track. It could have been some local doing a Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall and with a taste for badger ham. Besides, I have no idea how long the badger had been there, so I don’t know if it was fit for anything useful.
Good point John. Perhaps the badger suit idea was over the top. I should learn not to judge everyone else by my own twisted standards…
I have had 6 reports recently of road kill badgers in kent, when I have gone to check on the bodies I have been unable to find them.. It is an interesting it is not just your area. I have reported this to my local badger group, and they seem to think a mixture of weirdo’s and a dry season
Hi Soo, and welcome
It is a bit of a mystery. The last badger I found is still there, two weeks later, on a fairly well-used road. If it hasn’t gone by the weekend I’ll stop and drag it out of sight somewhere (hauling away rotting badgers? I have such exciting weekends!)
There are stories of sightings of dead badgers being dragged away by other badgers – ‘badger funerals’ – but these are rare and not fully understood. Perhaps it’s one of those things that is better left unexplained…
All the best
BWM