Badgers in day light hours

WAYNE

Well-Known Member
Good afternoon, The ground we cover we have anbundance of badgers on, we always see these on the lamp when out for the old foxes but these last few months we are starting to see these during the day as well. At first we thought it was a one off, but this is happening on a regular basis. I've even took the wife and kid one afternoon to watch 3 of them playing on a bank at 4pm. I've seen them at dawn/dusk plenty but latly it seems starnge how often this is happening when the sun is high in the sky. Any one else seen a change in their habits like this? Years ago we use to see them in middle of the night and that was it.
 
There's a school of thought that if you see one in the day, its probably ill and justifiable to consider humanely dispatching it.

​however with three of them out together, I'd be flummoxed
 
On my permission i have seen quite a few badgers in the afternoon and all look fit and well .
 
We have lots of badgers on the farm and, like you, normally only seem them after dusk but this year the ground has been so dry and hard I think they have been struggling to find enough food. I have seen several of this years cubs desperately searching in the hedgerows for something to eat, completely unconcerned at my presence within 2 feet of them. The deer kill quite a lot of cubs as they cross the paddocks; one good blow with a forefoot across the head and that's it. they only seem to be concerned about them while there are young calves about. They hate them more than foxes (but not as much as cats:D)
 
Plenty of youngsters out and about this time of year... Quite often see them mid afternoon onwards exploring about the headlands
 
We too have lots of badgers on the ground and during the summer months it is not unusual to see them up to 2 hours after dawn or 2 hours before dusk. I am no expert but my thoughts are that it may have something to do with the number of hours of darkness they have to find food, which are not many during the summer months.
 
It has been quite common to see Badgers in the day time going back a few years now.

I agree. We see badgers and foxes out during the daytime where I work.

Last month I walked within ten feet of a badger set and watched two youngsters running about at 13:30.
 
a dry spell and too many badgers , simple as that , a couple of weeks ago we noticed they had dug out loads of humble bee nests
 
On one of my places regularly see badgers in the day actually more than we see at night. One very early evening stalking through some rough grass nearly stepped on a cub, only way I noticed it was it was hissing at me.

Also agree with Trouble, last month when it was v hot and dry at 11pm I was within 50m of 6 badgers in the middle of a hay fiels, ground was rock hard.

D
 
We had a lot of trees felled recently, including some rotten ones. The stack was made up on the roadside, and I noticed a cub curled up asleep against the wood pile.

My understanding is that a daytime badger is probably a sick badger, so I prodded it with a stick. It barley moved, so I decided to drop it with a 12bore with BB. Lots of yellowy puss-y muck from the chest area, so I guess one with TB ?


That's the first one I have seen in full daylight, no shade, in more than twenty -five years.
 
We often see them in the daytime, there is an unbelievable amount about in my neck of the woods.
 
I think you ment to say you thought about shooting it, and as its a protected species, if you had of shot it not sure where that would leave you.
 
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