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Badgers (Meles meles) are widespread, found throughout the UK and are predominantly nocturnal. Badgers live in setts, which can be found in a wide variety of habitats, and the distinctive large entrance holes are often found around the margins of woodland, hedgerows or scrub.
Badgers are protected under the Badgers Act 1992, which makes it an offence to wilfully harm or kill a badger, or to interfere with a badger sett. Sett interference includes disturbing badgers whilst they are occupying a sett, as well as damaging or destroying a sett or obstructing access to it. However, the legislation recognises the need for a range of legitimate activities to be carried out and allows licences to be granted for the partial or complete closure of a badger sett, with appropriate mitigation.
Badger surveys can be conducted at any time of the year but optimum conditions are when vegetation does not obscure sett entrances and the ground is soft enough to retain field signs such as paw prints. GreenLink Ecology Ltd is able to undertake all aspects of badger related survey work, including preliminary site investigations, bait marking and territory mapping, exclusion and supervised sett closure, and artificial sett construction. If you think badger may be a constraint to your project, or have been asked to commission a badger survey by the Local Planning Authority, contact us. |
