General Chat

Sorry folks but i just dont agree with it what do you think ??

M y reason is no way has it been prooved badgers are to blame for bovine TB

and besides that they are cute as :-( :-(

Well Joy, always loved badgers - even been to a badger watch several times. However for over 30 years had fed hedgehogs in our garden and it was either 2011 or 2012 we actually had 5 at one time in the garden.

OH wakened last summer to a scream - wakened me and decided it was a cat fight, that was until he walked into front garden and found a disembowelled hedgehog. Only one animal can do and that is the badger so cute is not the word.
I am aware that in the animal kingdom especially it is normally kill to survive.

However, like you, I have been hearing for over 40 years that the badger is responsible for bovine tb. Why don't they either vaccinate the badgers or sterilize the females.

The badger population is known to be on the up whilst the hedgehog is declining rapidly.

i am all for trapping and testing and a vaccination plan
i dont object to the infected badgers been humanly distroyed
but why kill the healthy uninfected ones to

i am very fond of british wild life
i would love to see badgers in the wild
though i have seen captive bred ones :-( :-(

Don't start me on this one lol,

I am totally opposed to any cull. I personally would be willing to pay more for my milk, and I use a lot, to cover the costs of vaccination.

that's me keeping it brief :-) I could rage on this one for hours lol.

I thought it was still illegal to keep a badger as a pet.

They are pretty vicious wild animals and should certainly not be encouraged into the garden.

As far as culling is concerned, it is the manner in which it is being done rather than the fact it is taking place that concerns me. Free shooting should not be necessary in this day and age.
It is pretty much accepted that badgers aid the spread of bovine TB but the worry is that the cull could lead to the displacement of groups of badgers which, in turn, will further lead to the spread of the disease.

Unfortunately, two other options are not really practical - vaccination and sterilisation. They would both involve tremendous resources, manpower and funding.
So I don't really know what the answer is and we do, after all, sadly live in a world where economics play a large part.

Errol when you thinjk of the amount of money paid out in compensation to farmers,surely that would cover the cost and it would diminish over a period of time. thus saving the Badger and Cattle from being destroyed.

Errol - who mentioned keeping badgers as a pet??? Not me.
we feed wild hedgehogs in the back garden. The front gardens where I live are all open plan - no hedges, no fences, badgers free to roam.

There are NO badgers on the Isle of Man - however they DO have bovine tb. Google The Robertsbridge Group.

We do 'sadly live in a world where economics play a large part' but when they are the WHOLE part, that is when we have to look at what we are, and what we are prepared to lose, in this instance to have cheap milk. It's as simple as that.

If at the moment there is no viable alternative to culling ( which I dispute anyway) , then one must be found. Not just give in to it because it's 'easy'.

thank you to Shane for the most wonderful picture :-D :-D

Merlin I would certainly like to see some actual figures.

My understanding is that bovine TB accounts for about 40 per cent of Defra’s animal health budget and that they are looking at ways to reduce this including handing more responsibility to farmers.

There should certainly be more testing and vaccination amongst herds.

Chris I didn't say anyone was keeping one as a pet - it was just a comment, although a poster did say they had seen captive bred ones.

Badgers do not CAUSE bovine TB but they do SPREAD it. There is quite a difference.
So, if there were badgers on the IOM then in all likelihood you would see an increase in the number of bovine TB cases.

Pleasure Joy, I`m sure you realise its not my garden, as much as i wish it were. :-D

Errol - google the site I recommended - farmer has found that there is a deficiency in the soil caused by growing maize. He had his soil analazed and it is lacking in two minerals which cause a weakened immune system.

He took steps to adjust this and the tb has disappeared.

once over they sugested culling hedgehogs
because they thought they suckled sleeping cows and caused TB

now its the poor badger

I read it a few minutes ago Chris - very interesting indeed thank you.

Joy - the issue here is not that badgers cause TB but they help in the spread of it - that is why in the article Chris kindly sourced, they are suggesting mineral cakes for both cattle AND badgers

maybe its the cattle that are giving it to the badgers and not the other way round

That's it! Good thinking Joy.
We could cull all cattle and use the meat to make beef burgers for a change. Problem solved overnight.

your not really sugesting making beef burgers out of beef are you Errol

maybe tescos could take that sugestion on board lol ;-) ;-)

i just love your idea but dont think it will catch on do you ;-) ;-)

It would be far too expensive to implement - they would have to revamp the entire beefburger manufacturing process