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Shop pages
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Info pages
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Educational Discounts
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Badgers (Meles Meles)
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Most people don’t get to see badgers as they only appear when it starts to get dark and you are only likely to have them visit if you have a large garden with a badger sett or there is a sett nearby. Although they are sometimes seen as pests in the garden as they will eat produce and bulbs, they do eat insect pests and vermin.
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Food
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Badgers eat earthworms, small mammals, carrion, fruit, nuts and bulbs. You can help badgers by providing occasional food when their natural supply of earthworms is low such as in dry weather, as they will come out of their setts to feed during the evenings. They will eat fruit such as apples, pears and plums, plain peanuts or brazil nuts, peanut butter sandwiches, a few Sugar Puffs or special badger mixes. Scatter food across the lawn so they can sniff them out. Please note badgers will come to rely on artificial feeding; so it's best if you provide food in times of greatest need (winter and spring) or as an occasional treat. Provide a bowl of water for badgers, especially if supplying dry food.
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Habitat
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The best way to attract hedgehogs to your garden is by providing untidy areas. It will hibernate between November and march in woodpiles, under sheds or at the bottom of hedges. Provide dry leaves for nesting. You could also supply a purpose built hedgehog box to keep them cosy dung the winter months.
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Important points
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It is a criminal offence to destroy badgers or damage, destroy or obstruct their setts.
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If you have badgers in your garden, make sure bins are strong and secure or they will take unsuitable waste and make a lot of mess.
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Don’t feed badgers too much sweet food, they will love it but like humans it is not good for them.
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Keep badger and other animal feeding bowls separately and wash carefully, do not clean or dry with dishcloths used for humans.
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Do provide a bowl of water to wash food down with, especially when supplying dried food to the badgers.
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Wildforms, Keepers Cottage, Glenstockadale, Leswalt, Stranraer, Wigtownshire, DG9 0LU
email: pete@wildforms.co.uk Telephone: 01776 870453
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