Come on Dawn, you know as well as I do that badgers need that protected status to protect them from the nitwits (I could call them worse) who would quite happily have a free for all and bait and kill them for fun if that status was lifted, no prosecution means no deterrent, if there are a problem with badgers in some areas then there possibly should be a licensing system for responsible folks who can reduce the numbers by a certain extent but don't you just then get badgers moving into an unused territory?
Once again, myth, Mink were wild and breeding in Britain before the so-called Animal Liberationists started their campaigns, they escaped from fur farms as far back as the 1960s, although I do not agree with any action of any idiotic liberation front, you still should state the facts before blaming a group initially or blaming animals for being what they are. As Ramble says, foxes have always died using different means, you can't get a hunt with hounds in every corner of Britain, does that make us all cruel who don't have hunts?

Dont believe that many of the Badgers you see dead, at the side of the road, are roadkill. This is a popular way for the badger baiters to dispose of the dead bodies after they have been terrorised by men and dogs, make them look like they have been hit by cars. This was told to me a couple of years ago by a Terrier man.

Or they've been illegally gassed, when I lived in Cornwall someone thought disposing of them in the sea was a good idea, except they all got washed up on the beach, no injuries or wounds although the local police wildlife liason officer tried to persuade me they could have just fallen off the cliff, what 4 of them I said!
Becky

we should have an annual cull on politicians as well.

Tumbleweed

Aha....i am sure you do notice it more, but are you looking for it more as well?! :smt002 As for the mange thing, my vet told me the majority of foxes have mange....
I don't honestly believe that the hunting ban is responsible for a assive increase in the number of foxes and badgers. I think we all know that the hunting ban is largely ignored anyway. We have people using dogs to hunt in our local woods.....

Do you really think a ban on Badger baiting has stopped people doing it? Just look at dog fighting, more popular than its ever been, you tell some people they cant and they will all the more.

Not in the numbers they are now! A good friend of mine worked in a mink farm for many years, she said in all the years she was there, only a handful ever escaped, when Mink farms were lucrative, they didnt want them to escape they were far too valuable I have one of the pelts here, its luuurrrvly!!:smt001 Exactly the same as Wild Boar, pratts who "think" they are saving animals have given them to culling and slaughter, as they breed in large numbers in the wild again.

Ramble.
Sounds like he lives in the town then, because any Vet familiar with the countryside would be horrified to hear that and question his reasons behind him saying so.

Sutty
A few years ago there was several "undercover" programs on about Badger digging etc.. one of the "antis" said the same thing you have and collected bodies for post mortem examination, not one was found to have been abused in any way and all the bodies had injuries consistent with RTA's. I understand your thinking here, but Badgers are really as thick as planks, you know the saying "Rabbit in the headlights?" well badgers are the same, they run then freeze in the headlights, very very often getting hit as they dart back and forth. If you watch some of the animal rescue programs, they have a lot of Badgers in from RTA's its the most common problem with them. Dont believe everything you hear, I do accept it may go on, but not in the numbers you might think.

Apologies for not replying sooner, I just noticed it going back a while, some of my unread posts havent been showing.