# Badgers



## MrsP (Apr 13, 2008)

I was reading something the other day that said badgers can make great pets if you rear them in the home from babies. It was a US website I googled when I was bored at work.

I'm quite sure they're endangered in the UK so it wouldn't be possible to have one, but I can't be the only person who thinks it would be great to rear a badger from a baby?

Don't worry, I have no plans to go and steal a baby from its sett, but I would just love to have one!


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

hee hee are you sure ya not gonna go on a midnight prowl now MsP 


i totally agree they are fantastic animals and have often wondered like you what they would be like as pets if reared from babies 

but like you i will carry on wondering...........or join ya on your midnight prowl (joke) lol


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

Arent they a bit like foxes?? I've heard that they dont make for good pets and can become very fiesty and aggressive once fully mature. They do make for good rearing studies and are relatively hardy but once they are fully grown revert to how they should behave in the wild.

Marina


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Marinam2 said:


> Arent they a bit like foxes?? I've heard that they dont make for good pets and can become very fiesty and aggressive once fully mature. They do make for good rearing studies and are relatively hardy but once they are fully grown revert to how they should behave in the wild.
> 
> Marina


 
yeah i had heard that too thats why i only ever wondered on the matter an never took it further lol 


they are gorgas animals but dangerous too they are very strong and powerful with a nasty bite


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## MrsP (Apr 13, 2008)

I've also read that they can be strong and aggressive. I was thinking, as we have a lot of space, that we could re-create a badger sett environment and allow a reared baby to go back to the wild but within our garden!

Not that I can, but it's one of those things I like to think about now and again! Imagine the wealth of study you could do if you lived in the same environment as a badger family.


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

imagine the hours you would spen at the window an in te garden :lol2:


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

MrsP said:


> allow a reared baby to go back to the wild but within our garden!


It's a very selfish way to think.

Marina


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## Esarosa (Jul 13, 2007)

Marinam2 said:


> It's a very selfish way to think.
> 
> Marina



Hmm not really, what I think (or presume) MrsP meant...was that a badger who had gone into a rescue, but had become to acclimatised to humans to be released, or couldn't be released into the wild for whatever reason...So it would still have a wild environment, and a better life probably than it would otherwise? Might be wrong though.


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## MrsP (Apr 13, 2008)

I wasn't being selfish, just thinking about creating a natural environment for a family of badgers. We have a massive garden, not your normal back yard. i just think if it were possible it would be fascinating. What if I created a perfect environment and a family of badgers moved in without me doing anything? That wouldn't be selfish, that would be giving us a valuable opportunity to watch them from home.

Like I said earlier, I'm not actually planning to go and steal a wild badger, they're endangered in the UK anyway. Just thought it would be an interesting discussion!


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

I said that because you inititated this conversation by saying you would go and rear a baby badger.

Marina


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## Talk To The Animals (Jan 10, 2008)

I think you'll find that badgers tend to dig, and if you wanted one to live in your garden you would have to dig it out to 6 - 10ft deep and line it with concrete, or it will just dig out of it.

Also, badgers bite!

Not a very good idea, I think!


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## emrawkgrrl (Sep 7, 2008)

Not to mention their claws! Had a cat that got whacked by one, fortunately he was a big cat otherwise he probably wouldn't have survived. 
Badger cubs are rather cute though, I remember holding one a few years ago. It was only cat sized and even then it was amazing all the strength and muscles in it!


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## MrsP (Apr 13, 2008)

Marinam2 said:


> I said that because you inititated this conversation by saying you would go and rear a baby badger.
> 
> Marina


Oh ok, maybe a bit selfish. But only in my dreams, I'd not do it really, unless I found a very badly injured baby badger and even then I'd only want to get it well enough to be released back to mum and dad.

I would really like to get close to a badger just once in my life though, I remember a taxi driver taking me round a roundabout several times because there was a badger ambling about on it, that's the only one I've ever seen in real life.


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## Bradders100 (Feb 3, 2008)

I've know a couple of people who have rescue foxes/badgers and they have become too acclimatised to people and are kept as pets now.

I don't agree with people taking things out of the wild, but if its a rescue animal that now cannot be placed back into the wild, I don't see a problem with keeping it if its being well looked after (i.e. correct housing, enrichment, food etc)

We do this every day mind with our reptiles, fish, birds, and even in zoos! (and most of these aren't in any need of rescue, just purely for the pet trade or to be stared at by people)

I can completely understand where MrsP is coming from!!

If I had a whole chunk of farm land, I would welcome badgers 

I also know someone who has TONS of land and has two deer sets that he can go up to and feed and check their young (these are completely wild).
He also has made ways to help feed their local owl and hawk/kestrel/thing by putting bales of hay about for mice to live in (to be eventually eaten by the owl and hawk/kestrel/thing )

Don't have ago as this is my opinion


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## Matt Lusty (Aug 20, 2008)

If it was an American site, they were probably talking about honey badgers or there native american badgers. From what I understand, honey badgers especially can make attentive pets and can be trained, rewarded and punished like dogs can 

Not sure the good old British badger has the same affection. They can be incredibly aggressive and can give extrememly painful, horrifying bites and scratches.


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

we have a set local to us, i often see them when i am coming back from runs and things.. 

i stopped the other night to go for a look, and came across two of this years cubs having a right barney in the field next to the road... 

there was i creeping up the hedge line, with what sounded like a something from a horror movie going on ahead.. they don't half make a lot of noise! 

eventually they heard me coming.. well i was giving them warning i was there... even i am not daft enough to come across one close up and spook it.. and they both ran off down the hedge line..

i'm more comfy dealing with foxes, for all the bite they have, than badgers.. who can be incredibly powerful and very nasty when hurt or cornered. i've picked up both from the side of the road before.. but am much more wary about tackling a badger..

i get to see them quite a lot really.. badgers that is.. tho not normally for much time 

N


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## xXFooFooLaFluffXx (Aug 4, 2007)

someone in the vet thought that our skunk was a badger, lol


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

xXFooFooLaFluffXx said:


> someone in the vet thought that our skunk was a badger, lol


 
Snap :lol2:


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## MrsP (Apr 13, 2008)

Bradders100 said:


> I can completely understand where MrsP is coming from!!


Not many people do, so thanks! :2thumb:

I'm fascinated by badgers, would love to have some living near me so I could watch them, but I don't want one to walk around on a lead. The idea of raising one from a baby appeals of course - I'd be lying if I said it didn't - but I wouldn't take any baby from the wild to raise as a pet.


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## 11krage (Mar 9, 2008)

maybe volunteering at a wildlife rescue might be a viable option, i have one near me and they get in badgers, adults and babies every now and again depending on the time of year.


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## emrawkgrrl (Sep 7, 2008)

Was going through my videos and came across this one and was reminded of this thread!



This is the view from my downstairs window, but I have sat out on the patio many times while the badgers are in the garden. They will happily have a sniff round for food, knowing I'm there the whole time. :mrgreen:

Quite often see young ones too, I think the most badgers at once was about 4, it's great to see. It's a shame so many of you aren't as lucky as me.

Also, do occasionally get a fox and a badger in the garden at the same time, did manage to film that once too but have no idea where that is!


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

xXFooFooLaFluffXx said:


> someone in the vet thought that our skunk was a badger, lol


On seeing me with my 2 ferrets on leads in the front garden one day, a man walking past asked if they were badgers!
:lol2:


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## MrsP (Apr 13, 2008)

emrawkgrrl said:


> Was going through my videos and came across this one and was reminded of this thread!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow!! That is ace! 

I can't complain, I've got a menagerie of lovely domestic pets and skunk on my lap fast asleep.

But I would love to see more badgers, might seriously look at volunteering for a local rescue, although work is quite demanding.


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## Talk To The Animals (Jan 10, 2008)

Matt Lusty said:


> If it was an American site, they were probably talking about honey badgers or there native american badgers. From what I understand, honey badgers especially can make attentive pets and can be trained, rewarded and punished like dogs can
> 
> Not sure the good old British badger has the same affection. They can be incredibly aggressive and can give extrememly painful, horrifying bites and scratches.


Honey badgers are notoriously fearless and aggressive and would NOT make good pets!


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