Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Badgers (and rabbits, and moles ..)  (Read 5752 times)

Remy

  • Joined Dec 2011
Badgers (and rabbits, and moles ..)
« on: March 04, 2012, 08:19:36 am »
I am inundated with all three and they are getting to be a real pain on my land.  The badgers live in my dividing hedge and each year have doubled their excavations, we now have three mountains of soil about my height on one side of the hedge, and a slowly increasing mountain the other side!  Not to mention I have stock fencing where they are digging and they are now digging up the fence posts!!   >:( >:(  They also make huge holes which we have to fill in regularly in case the horses put a foot down.

Now the rabbits seem to be following suit (except they have decided they are going to dig around the gate posts), they are also digging up largre patches of land in the middle of the fields. And our mole population has taken off  - we now have multiple molehills in every field  >:( >:( >:(.

Anyone have any suggestions   ???
1 horse, 2 ponies, 4 dogs, 2 Kune Kunes, a variety of sheep

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Badgers (and rabbits, and moles ..)
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2012, 09:18:38 am »
Mole catcher for the moles, a gun and rabbit pie for the bunnies, but I don't think there's a  lot you can do about the badgers unless you are in an area where the licensed cull has been approved.  Maybe you could make them into a tourist attraction  :D 8)  Could you fence off the whole area with a reasonable margin so they are not toppling fence posts, and just accept they are there, immovable like a pond or small woodland?
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Mammyshaz

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • Durham
Re: Badgers (and rabbits, and moles ..)
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2012, 11:59:48 am »
A large male farm cat might help with rabbits and moles.  You never know, the badgers may get huffed at a pestering cat and move house too.
Other than that a mole catcher and a shotgun is all that comes to mind. N ot very helpful, sorry.

Remy

  • Joined Dec 2011
Re: Badgers (and rabbits, and moles ..)
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2012, 04:15:04 pm »
Could you fence off the whole area with a reasonable margin so they are not toppling fence posts, and just accept they are there, immovable like a pond or small woodland?

Trouble is they're not immovable, they are taking up more of my fields every year! I wouldn't mind if they just stayed in the hedge  ::) - if I fenced off an area, you can bet they'd fill it and move ever outwards till my entire acreage was badger setts  ;)

In my locality the biggest form of roadkill is badgers.  Except I don't think it's roadkill. I reckon the farmers kill them and place them on the side of the road.  Apparently one neighbour told me that he saw a couple of them sitting up side by side on the edge of the road - not quite how you would imagine they'd end up if hit by a car!  :D :D
1 horse, 2 ponies, 4 dogs, 2 Kune Kunes, a variety of sheep

mandos1993

  • Joined Mar 2012
  • downham market
  • shepherd in training
Re: Badgers (and rabbits, and moles ..)
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2012, 06:59:43 pm »
lots of different methods for moles and rabbits nothink you can do for badger unless your in a cull area and have cattle ? moles are easy to either gas out or use scissor traps rabbits use either cage traps air rifle or snares and mk6 traps 
Every man can tell how many sheep he poss but not how many friends

tobytoby

  • Joined May 2011
  • north ayrshire
Re: Badgers (and rabbits, and moles ..)
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2012, 07:19:40 pm »
Last year i had to get a licence to clear a ditch that the badgers had filled in by scraping out their entrance to the Sett.You are only granted this for a few months of the year - outwith this period you shouldn't be within 30m of a Sett?
Obviously if you are a private individual you can get away with more, but as i work for a maintenance company, we have to declare what we do or face huge penalties.

clydesdaleclopper

  • Joined Aug 2009
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Badgers (and rabbits, and moles ..)
« Reply #6 on: March 23, 2012, 09:51:44 pm »
A large male farm cat might help with rabbits and moles.  You never know, the badgers may get huffed at a pestering cat and move house too.

I don't think they'd be too bothered by a cat - one of the badgers round here attacked our wolfhound when OH took him out for a walk one night
Our holding has Anglo Nubian and British Toggenburg goats, Gotland sheep, Franconian Geese, Blue Swedish ducks, a whole load of mongrel hens and two semi-feral children.

Penninehillbilly

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • West Yorks
Re: Badgers (and rabbits, and moles ..)
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2012, 11:31:46 pm »
how about a low elecric fence for badgers, jst to stop them approaching the fence.

fifixx

  • Joined Mar 2010
  • Shillingstone, Dorset
    • Bere Marsh Farm
Re: Badgers (and rabbits, and moles ..)
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2012, 11:47:14 pm »
You can buy badger fencing (they use it for motorways) - check with Natural England, but I would think you can fence where they haven't been to stop them encroaching more - it is tough wire and gets dug in.  Just google!

You can be authorised to move them, why not get in touch with your local wildlife trust - they should be sympathetic and give good advice

I have a barn full of them - waiting for a survey.  Right by a road too, so can't see how the 20 metre rule could ever apply!

Smalltime

  • Guest
Re: Badgers (and rabbits, and moles ..)
« Reply #9 on: March 28, 2012, 10:21:33 am »
how about a low elecric fence for badgers, jst to stop them approaching the fence.

that would be my suggestion also, about 1.5 joules output needed so i have been told.

 

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