Badgers are vicious - Not!

Amtmann

Take a look at this:

Judgement Day

Wow! Thanks for posting that footage. So much for being shy, nocturnal creatures, but you would still want take care with them as they are a wild animal with very powerful jaws. The closest most of us ever get to a badger is as road-kill.

Amtmann

There was a sett at the back of my house in Tipperary for years. One July evening I was passing by at dusk and a big badger emerged backwards from the hole with a load of earth under its belly. It noticed me but wasn't afraid. The badger carried on about its business for about twenty minutes and I just stood there transfixed. Every so often it would look towards me, sniff in the air, scratch, and then carry on digging. I was only about 20 ft away, but it didn't care.
I often went down to the sett after that, and I saw more and more badgers. They had two cubs the next year and these were incredibly boistrous. I managed to feed them bread a few times, much as one feeds ducks. They wouldn't let me touch them, but they often sniffed the ends of my shoes before eating more bread with much smacking of lips. Lovely animals. I couldn't believe how peaceful the adults were - they just walked around slowly scratching themselves and each other most of the time. Sadly they abandoned the sett about three years ago and moved away.

Dusty87

All the same, i wouldn like to corner one:)

Amtmann

Do we have many badgerwatchers in Ireland?

fryup

its african cousin - the honey badger is generally regarded as the toughest animal in the world, completely fearless

Morganna

great footage thanks for sharing

Day Lewin

@Furet - there is an organisation called Badgerwatch - Google it. Or inquire from the Irish wildlife Trust, at iwt.ie
They are extremely cagey about revealing the location of badger setts, because there is still an "underground" trade in illegal, disgusting blood sports with these peaceful animals.