Anyone else ever seen a live badger?

[Vapin' Joe]

The closest I've got to a live one was when I was driving home one night. It wasn't alive for more than a few seconds longer as it was in the process of headbutting the front bumper when I caught sight of it.

 

[Speicher]

I found a live badger in one of my compost bins. For several days something had been removing the little doors at the bottom and scattering the contents.

One day I decided to clear up the mess (again). I lifted the lid of one compost bin, to be greeted with a very surprised young badger. He must have dug his way in, and the contents fell behind him, blocking his exit. He struggled to get out by putting his claws on top of bin. Fortunately I was holding a dustpan (for the purposes of clearing up) and I was able to get close enough to place that under his bum and help him out. So off he scampered.

It was in the very warm dry days of last September, so he must have been after the worms. People told me I was brave to get that close to him, but what was the alternative? I am sure he was more interested in escaping rather than biting the person who helped him to escape. I think he was a young badger, as his body (excluding the tail) was about 18 inches long.

 

[BigSid]

I was out on a walk at night with my girlfriend and we disturbed one. It ran across the track and startled us. She didn't actually recognise it as a badger as it was dark and the badger was pretty quick. Every time we went down that track afterwards she asked if there were still 'man-eating badgers' about. I also was driving down a single track road one night and saw three pairs of eyes bouncing up and down coming towards me. Turned out they were three badger cubs.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Yes, in Leicester, in the middle of an housing estate. I guess it lived near the railway line, makes it easier for its commute, though when I saw it, it was heading away from the railway line.

 

[Webbo2]

I hope to see a beaver tonight and do a bit of badgering.😉

 

[Dogtrousers]

Cycling at night a couple of times and also once while walking through woodland in Kent. The latter was quite a surprise. It was just sitting on the path. As we approached it calmly ambled away.

 

[biggs682]

Only 1 a couple of years ago happily trotting up the side of a quiet B road about 6am

 

[Dirk]

No...but I've seen Beaver.

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

Seen a few very dead, very smelly decomposing ones around Old Winchester Hill and Beacon Hill in Hampshire, but no definite live one.

I doubt was a badger, but saw a black and dirty white tail near The Cricketers pub last night around 1945, disappearing into the hedgerow. Did wonder for a mo.

 

[Jenkins]

Yes - a couple of times on an early evening commute home I've followed them along a country lane until they found a way into the field. They're surprisingly rapid. I've also hit one on the same road in the dark while on the bike and found them to be quite solid, but no damage done to man or beast.

 

[Specialeyes]

Saw one about an hour ago on a walk with the dog in Belfairs Woods - it popped its nose out of the undergrowth after Milo passed by (he was about 20 meters ahead of me), checked both ways then calmly pottered across the path in front of me.

 

[annedonnelly]

There's a sett near where my friend lives and we put a trail cam there last year and got video of them eating peanuts. Also saw one not far from the sett.

There are signs of them not far from my new house so I hope it's only a matter of time before I bump into one. I was startled by some animal noises by the river the other day and it turned out to be three passing mink. I think the noises were the mother encouraging me to move away so she could take the youngsters past.

 

[gbb]

Two 'funny' sightings for.me...
Pitch black evening out on my bike, just outside a local village, no street lighting. I'm doing around 16mph, LED light bram illuminating the 20ft in front of me...a big 'shape' appeared in the.light, then disappeared. In that moment, it frightened the living carp out of me...a badger had crossed right in front of me.

En route to work one morning, 6.15 ish. As I looked across a field, some hundreds of yards away, a black 'creature' was lumbering along at a fair pace...
What the heck is that ? I thought...and then realised, a badger. It was summer so the sun was up, you associate them with the night of course, but this one was obviously a bit late.to bed.

 

[Profpointy]

We live in the middle of Bristol and badgers regularly visit our garden. There is a hole under the fence one side and a hole in the fence the other. Once we were sat outside having a beer and Mr badger strolled past close enough that I could have touched him. A neighbour had laid a lawn and in the morning discovered the badgers had rolled up the turves. He did see the funny side. To put this in context we are a hundred yards from the A4 just across from the SS Great Britain and not much further from the university buildings, not out in the 'burbs.

As a 60+ year old I've seen more badgers in my city garden than I've seen the rest of my life (other than road casualities)

 

[classic33]

Last one seen was earlier this year, on the street, in the early hours.
Used to see them at least once a week when cycling in or home in the early hours. Heard them a lot more than I ever saw them.