Pembrokeshire is at the heart of a controversial plan to cull some of its badger population in a bid to get rid of bovine TB. I don't pretend to understand the whys and wherefores of it and know it can be an emotive subject whichever side of the fence you're on.We've lived in our current house for over eight years and despite lots of evidence of badger activity we have never actually seen them in our garden. As most of our garden used to be a field and as we're surrounded by farmland we see their runs everywhere but they've never really troubled us unduly - until today.
A couple of weeks ago my husband planted over 300 crocus bulbs because he read how much bees flock to the pollen they offer. In readiness for next Spring he spent a few hours planting near his hives. Today, I ventured up the garden for the first time since this terrible rain started and I noticed that the badgers have decimated the garden near the hives. ALL of his crocus bulbs have been dug up and are gone! There are great holes in the ground, made by some very powerful paws and divots of grass are everywhere.
I told him the news when he got home expecting despair and exasperation. I should have known better. My husband is such a pragmatist and says that if the bulbs gave the badgers a much needed feed in this awful weather then so be it. I hope the powers that be that have to decide on the cull can be just as pragmatic.
3 comments:
Oh how frustrating to spend all that time planting to no avil. We have badgers too and when the hazelnuts were falling from the tree at the end of our path there were 3 or 4 every night out there crunching their evening snack! I went out and took a photo and they didn't care!
They do cause an enormous amount of damage in the gardens round here but since they were here long before the houses perhaps we should learn to live together peaceably!
Jane
Well done to your husband for being so accepting those crocuses would have been a real treat. I have netted all my pots of bulbs to stop the squirrels digging them up, but that is nothing compared to a hungry badger. It is hard to accept the necessity of a cull - but if I was a dairy farmer I would probably think differently.
Jane,
You're so right. I'd like to think there was a way for all things to co-exist. Irony of all ironies, after I'd put this post up I looked out of my kitchen window last night and saw a badger! How surreal is that? By the time I called my husband it has disappeared. I can only think that the saturated ground is leading them further afield to find something to eat - after all, there are no crocuses left to nibble on! Lesley
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