Badger Rescues
Anvil was knocked down at Anvil Cross Great Hallingbury in the early hours of the morning. luckily a local lady returning from work came upon the badger in the middle of the road, outside her house, still alive. She found our number and we asked her to stay with it until we got there to stop any other cars from running him over again. The pictures show the various stages of recovery... He wasn't found too far from his sett, so we knew roughly where to release him when he was ready to go.
(Left) Unconscious and suffering from head trauma and bruising from being hit by a car. Due to his head trauma (swelling of the brain) it is too risky to anesthetise him to X-Ray to check any internal damage.
Kept warm and head raised to help recovery.
At the BSVH.
Unconscious 23.6.2012
He managed to move around which is encouraging.
Fully recovered 30.6.2012
Trail camera IR Lt Acorn 5610A.
Hurry up open the door!
30.6.12 @ 19.28 hrs.
Loaded up ready to go
Hand contact with badger
Lucky was left with a broken pelvis after being hit by a car in Radwinter Saffron Walden; The car that hit him did not stop; the next car that came upon him suddenly, took evasive action and fortunately missed him... The couple in the car stopped, turned round to check on the badger and found him alive. They spent an hour with him until they were able to find a contact number via the police, who gave them the Badger Hotline. The vet gave him pain killer injection and antibiotic injection for the injury around its jaw and the open fight wound on its rump; the latter resulted from this badger getting in a fight with another one...He was kept in over night to be checked the following morning.
Once home with me a CCTV Camera was set up in his pen to monitor his progress. Its during this process where you can establish if the badger has any problems getting around the pen and is able to eat and drink. Often following a rta they will sleep for a couple of days, resting. Food and water are put down from the start. If after a couple of days the food is not touched and the badger is awake, I will try and give him food and water via a syringe, which usually works and gets the taste buds going, thereafter the badger will feed itself.
Lucky was a little stiff and was limping on one of the back legs, not unexpected under the circumstances. After a few days of him getting stronger, it was now a good time to have him checked over and given an x-ray to check his pelvis. He had a broken pelvis which the vet said would heal in about 4-5 weeks. This was a relief to hear. Whilst the badger was under anesthetic, he was given a thorough check over. A number of ticks around and in the ears were removed. A cataract was detected. This is not a problem for the badger as their eyesight is very poor anyway. They rely on their sense of smell to get about.
He has his eye on you.
Handle with care.
"Can I go now?"
Do not disturb.
Lucky - ready to go.
He was given a dose of Frontline to get rid of any fleas he had, this was of particular importance, not only to make him feel comfortable but also to help minimise the need to use the back legs for scratching that would put stress on the fracture… It seemed to work and the scratching was less evident. But as we all know;” if you have an itch, you have to scratch it”
He made good progress over the weeks that followed, showing no signs of any mobility problems…After he finished eating his evening meal, he would spend many hours sitting in the corner of the pen, on a bed of hay chewing and clawing at the wall panelling hoping to break out. It was time to make plans to release him back from where he was found.
A survey was carried out to locate any badger setts close to where he was found, Setts were found close by and a date fixed for Sunday 10.11.2013…
Lucky was checked on during the day of the release, he was snug under the hay, he raised his head looked towards me as if to say "Can't one get a lay in on a Sunday morning without being disturbed?" Little did he know that was to be his last of his 26 days of board and lodgings; He went into the transport cage easily and travelled reasonably well, he salivated during the journey this brought on by nerves…
The couple that rescued him came along and carried the cage back and forth until we were sure of the area to let him go; He did not want to leave the cage in a meadow near to where he was found… We kept on the move, watching for any indication that he has picked up the scent, he would sniff the air; all the time we had to keep an eye out for oncoming traffic as we were close to the main road and we were not sure which direction he was going to take when leaving the cage.
He made good progress over the weeks that followed, showing no signs of any mobility problems…After he finished eating his evening meal, he would spend many hours sitting in the corner of the pen, on a bed of hay chewing and clawing at the wall panelling hoping to break out. It was time to make plans to release him back from where he was found.
A survey was carried out to locate any badger setts close to where he was found, Setts were found close by and a date fixed for Sunday 10.11.2013…
Lucky was checked on during the day of the release, he was snug under the hay, he raised his head looked towards me as if to say "Can't one get a lay in on a Sunday morning without being disturbed?" Little did he know that was to be his last of his 26 days of board and lodgings; He went into the transport cage easily and travelled reasonably well, he salivated during the journey this brought on by nerves…
The couple that rescued him came along and carried the cage back and forth until we were sure of the area to let him go; He did not want to leave the cage in a meadow near to where he was found… We kept on the move, watching for any indication that he has picked up the scent, he would sniff the air; all the time we had to keep an eye out for oncoming traffic as we were close to the main road and we were not sure which direction he was going to take when leaving the cage.
Eventually the cage was placed alongside a brook down from the sett, he sat in the cage for some time; eventually he casually walked out of the cage and headed along a track into the long grass that formed a shape of a tunnel towards the setts; We hung around a little while, to make sure he did not double back, he will be ok now.
A very lucky badger, that “Lucky”.
A very lucky badger, that “Lucky”.
Essex Badger Hotline Telephone: 07751 572 175
