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Badger traps: |
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ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337  View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 21 Jan 2011 hi people, for any 2011 field herpers unaware of what they look like (esp in the East or North where theyve rarely been deployed); 
LEFT; Standard BADGER TRAP RIGHT; BADGER HOLDING CAGE as part of the ongoing fight against Bovine TB (mycobacterium bovis) the device on the left of the pic is expected to be deployed widely in the field in the near future. Esp in the traditional areas for bTB (cornwall, devon, wilts, worcs, glos, dorset and hereford). but probably in e sussex, south/mid wales, staffs, shropshire and elsewhere too. the size of the market for vaccination in the fight against TB is still being explored though - since culling might still be on the cards after the upcoming consultation. that may well be cheaper. i dont know. unlike vaccination, killing badgers is far from acceptable to Joe Public though! responsible animal husbandry by farmers  such as excluding badgers from cow sheds as far as possible must also be significant weapon in the fight. this factor is much championed by the leading badgers/bTB research unit in Woodchester Park, GLOS.
im hoping to find employment as a Badger Vaccinator myself soon. having completed the first stage towards a NE licence to trap badgers. 
SO, if youre out herping or walking and you come across one of the cages shown in my pic with a live meles meles in it, dont immediately think "oh no! badger baiters!" and smash it up in anger.  ***
all cages set out as part of the forthcoming Badger Vaccine Deployment Project (currently being prototyped by FERA staff in a trial area) will be labelled with a contact telephone number. obviously labels can be removed so take a grid ref and report to the police if thats the case or if you harbour any suspicions. illegal trapping/badger-baiting is obviously NOT to be tolerated. rest assured, all traps will be serviced and any badgers/non target native species caught, released before mid-day. for obvious animal welfare reasons. PS surprisingly, badgers dont generally make a sound or even flinch when you jab a needle in! 
unlike ME!
ben ***at its peak ,the Randomised Badger Culling Trial lost ú40k worth of traps to vandalism every 6 weeks!
the poor old taxpayer eh? Diversity. |
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Scale Senior Member Joined: 05 Dec 2010 No. of posts: 83  View other posts by Scale |
Posted: 13 Feb 2011 Hi Ben, A bunch of us field workers once tried to smash up a gin trap we found in an artificial wooden run (harder than you'd think). Turned out it was a legal Fenn trap deployed in the correct fashion by the local gamekeeper. Needless to say he was not best pleased. Just out of curiosity, do the Badger traps get a covering of hay as when Polecat trapping? |
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Baby Sue Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2008 No. of posts: 412  View other posts by Baby Sue |
Posted: 14 Feb 2011 So you think they get smashed up cos people think theyÆre for hurting the badgers? I wanted presents from lots of you. Snot fair that Ben Rigsby was the only one to send me Xmas & birthday presents. 
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ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337 View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 14 Feb 2011 hi scale, no.its pointless covering the traps with anything since the badger will pull everything inside the cage with it. even dirty great lumps of turf.
whilst working as an Animal Health Officer during the 2001 Foot-and-Mouth crisis in Wales, some very old and rusty Gin traps were uncovered while we were clearing junk from a barn, prior to demolition. "highly illegal now!" the farmer smirked as one was held up. "so they should be!" i thought to myself. hi sue, i dunno these people dont stick around after theyve done it. so ive never had the chance to ask them. Diversity. |
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Scale Senior Member Joined: 05 Dec 2010 No. of posts: 83 View other posts by Scale |
Posted: 15 Feb 2011 Hi Ben, A guy involved in Polecat field research told me that they would cover the traps with hay. The point being that when a Polecat became trapped it would pull the hay into the cage to form a nest. This made the event less stressful for the Polecat (as they tended to maul the metal cage otherwise), alerted the surveyor to the animal's presence (from distance) and apparently made the animal much calmer to process thereafter. It seems from what you say that Badgers have the same instinctive behavior to get covered up and bed down. Perhaps slowing down the metabolism is a natural response to becoming trapped in a more natural scenario? When i was a boy our house backed onto a little copse and i vaguely remember my mum bringing in a cat with a gin trap clamped to the leg. I can't remember now if the cat was dead or alive, although i'm sure it would would have adapted to and overcome such an amputation. I think cats are the only animal that seem to get on fine with only three legs! I'm 'always' seeing them knocking about, especially on the continent. In fact i know two lots of people who own three legged cats. Cheers Rob |
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Baby Sue Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2008 No. of posts: 412 View other posts by Baby Sue |
Posted: 15 Feb 2011 Are baddie traps that cause injury illegal to own? I know youÆre not allowed to use them but can you get done for owning one? I wanted presents from lots of you. Snot fair that Ben Rigsby was the only one to send me Xmas & birthday presents.
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Scale Senior Member Joined: 05 Dec 2010 No. of posts: 83 View other posts by Scale |
Posted: 15 Feb 2011 Gin traps are illegal to use (and rightly so) but i wouldn't think to own, unless the fun police are cracking down on the possession of historical memorabilia nowadays. Strangely enough though Fenn traps (which look and act similar but don't have the teeth)are legal to use but in conjunction? with a narrow/covered wooden run, big enough only for squirrels, rats and other such 'vermin' to enter. As i understand it Fenn traps should not really be used where Hedgehogs and Polecats occur (which is daft as this could apply to practically any location) as these species are protected against killing/trapping under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. However, as usual, who's gonna prove anything and gamekeepers should have the right to keep pests (excluding Poles and Hedgys, clearly!) from their livestock. If anyone can let me know how to post pics here, i'll send you one of an abandoned baby Polecat i found. I suspect Baby Sue might like it! It was being eyed up by a b#*tard cat, so i shooed the bugger off (the cat!) and returned the Polecat nearby sometime later! I knew the mother's den was nearby as our next door neighbour (at that time) regularly saw the mother and cubs using a disused rabbit burrow from her kitchen window. |
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ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337 View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 15 Feb 2011 interesting off-the-beaten-track read! tks. 
covering cages with hay when polecat trapping has multiple benefits then! i dont know that caged billies build their "couches" in traps tho. everything is trampled and compacted true, but its gonna be if its pulled in. theyre bound to sit on it. the only way they try to "hide" (other than by turning in the opposite direction) is by occasionally adopting the badger defensive position - head down, between forelimbs. the dont try to conceal themselves under pulled-in foliage like hay, turf or ferns. when approached, they are often quietly curled up, cat-like. asleep**** but they can be sitting up alert or racing about too. are they cats with a fore or rear limb missing? which would be most disadvantageous for a cat do you think?
Gin traps are often wall adornments for country pubs if you decide to start drinking real ale and want to see one sue. try The Dumb Post,Calne, Wilts. i think i saw one there while skiving once
farming museums have them. they are gruesome but interesting contraptions to look at. in a horror film thrill-scream-glad its over kinda way. if that makes any sense!
cheers! ben *** some claim they are wide awake and only feigning  Diversity. |
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Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 16 Feb 2011 [QUOTE=Scale] Gin traps are illegal to use (and rightly so) but i wouldn't think to own, unless the fun police are cracking down on the possession of historical memorabilia nowadays. Strangely enough though Fenn traps (which look and act similar but don't have the teeth)are legal to use[/QUOTE] Yes, gin traps are legal to own (though ebay won't let you sell them)- there's an antique shop in Ely that had dozens of them last time I was there. All leg-hold traps (including gin traps) are illegal, The Fenn traps are legal because they're (supposedly) instantly lethal. |
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Scale Senior Member Joined: 05 Dec 2010 No. of posts: 83 View other posts by Scale |
Posted: 16 Feb 2011 [QUOTE=ben rigsby] are they cats with a fore or rear limb missing? which would be most disadvantageous for a cat do you think?
[/QUOTE] Good question, lack of a hindlimb would affect the spring necessary to generate the pounce? Lack of a forelimb would affect the physical capture of the prey? Sounds like a 'if you had to choose...' or a chicken/egg scenario to me. Ummm! Either or both would be highly disadvantageous to a feral cat, i would imagine. However, the two living room loafers in question are more partial to a pouchful of Sheba than a mouthful of Sorex i suspect 
Is my answer... |
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Baby Sue Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2008 No. of posts: 412 View other posts by Baby Sue |
Posted: 17 Feb 2011 [QUOTE=Scale]If anyone can let me know how to post pics here, i'll Try this.....
Baby SueÆs Instructions On How To Post Photos: -
Go to here http://photobucket.com/ and set up an account. Photobucket should send you an email giving you basic instructions of how to activate your account, do it. Once the account is activated go back to http://photobucket.com/ and log in. Click on æUpload nowÆ. Click æSelect photos and videosÆ. Find and select the photo on your computer that you want to upload. Click open. In a few seconds you should have the option to click æSave and continue to my albumÆ. Your photo will appear on the page. If you point your mouse on the photo, 4 lines will appear. The bottom one says 'IMG Code'. Left click within the box to the right of that. It will temporarily say æCopiedÆ. Come back to this board and start a post. Right hand click. Go to 'Paste'. If you do a preview now your photo should appear. I wanted presents from lots of you. Snot fair that Ben Rigsby was the only one to send me Xmas & birthday presents.
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Baby Sue Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2008 No. of posts: 412 View other posts by Baby Sue |
Posted: 21 Feb 2011 [QUOTE=ben rigsby] Gin traps are often wall adornments for country pubs if you decide to start drinking real ale and want to see one sue. I most certainly do not on both counts! I wanted presents from lots of you. Snot fair that Ben Rigsby was the only one to send me Xmas & birthday presents.
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Baby Sue Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2008 No. of posts: 412 View other posts by Baby Sue |
Posted: 21 Feb 2011 What the heck is a pole cat anyway?  We don't have them in Yorkshire do we?  I wanted presents from lots of you. Snot fair that Ben Rigsby was the only one to send me Xmas & birthday presents.
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Scale Senior Member Joined: 05 Dec 2010 No. of posts: 83 View other posts by Scale |
Posted: 21 Feb 2011 A Polecat is a medium sized (Bl&White pied) animal belonging to the weasel, stoat, badger and Otter family. The ferret is the domesticated version of the Polecat and the two interbreed in the wild with the 'purest' breed found in the west. The interbreeding between the two appears not be as devastating as say the wild and feral cat union. This is because the Polecat hybrid has serious trouble breeding to the point of being an almost evolutionary dead end. Their stronghold is in Wales and the border counties. You get them in the Lake district and perhaps just into Yorkshire, although their range seems to be expanding all the time. I'll try and dig out the baby polecat picture and send it via your earlier instructions. Rob |
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Baby Sue Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2008 No. of posts: 412 View other posts by Baby Sue |
Posted: 22 Feb 2011 Do that cos I wanna see.  I wanted presents from lots of you. Snot fair that Ben Rigsby was the only one to send me Xmas & birthday presents.
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- Badger traps |
& respectable old people do the vandalism? It ainÆt just chavvy thugs doing it for the hell of it? 
