They should have watched the cracking BBC Nature documentary last night about living alongside wildlife in Anchorage. A moose or a grizzly in your garden - that's really something to worry about!

Seriously, has there ever been an instance of a badger injuring a human (even a 2-year old)? Perhaps they need Bill Oddie to instruct them in the lost martial art of 'Ecky Thump'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goodies

Having lived in sheffield all of my 40 years, I'm quite supprised that the residents at gleadless haven't yet eaten the badgers...

...but give 'em time...

Chris, how could you forget the famous Badger Rampage of 2003?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/3023369.stm

Yum!

http://www.globalchefs.com/article/current/art123bak.htm

Kill it, Cook it, Eat it.

Problem solved, evidence conveniently eaten. Just don't wear your new badger skin hat to a PETA meeting, and all is well.

So interfering with the sett is illegal ? Wait till the badgers come outside, then !

... and they'll all be arrested and forced to pay damages.

On the other hand, if football fans were reclassified as badgers, they could get away with murder and be protected as well ...

All it takes is a little yankee know-how. With burrowing rodents, we just move them to another place. Easy and harmless to the fur producing devices:

http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/9612/16/sucking.dogs/

Now where was that vacuum cleaner........

http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20040405/badger.shtml

Also, railroad crews "walking the train" have had their run-ins:

slchub wrote (http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36498&start=15):

I always carry a flare or two with me as well for the occasional animal you may come up to as well. Badgers are notorious for standing their ground and a few guys have had to run up the side of a car and wait for the little guy to go away. Good idea about making some noise. Be sure to take your ear plugs out once you get past the engines so you can hear whats going on around you when you walk especially for rattlers hanging around the tracks.

http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20040405/badger.shtml

Also, railroad crews "walking the train" have had their run-ins:

slchub wrote (http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36498&start=15):

I always carry a flare or two with me as well for the occasional animal you may come up to as well. Badgers are notorious for standing their ground and a few guys have had to run up the side of a car and wait for the little guy to go away. Good idea about making some noise. Be sure to take your ear plugs out once you get past the engines so you can hear whats going on around you when you walk especially for rattlers hanging around the tracks.

The AntiPesto lads.

Cracking job Grommit.

. . . may have been inadvertently put on the problem. "All it takes is a little yankee know-how. With burrowing rodents, we just move them to another place." But another place is precisely where they came from - having presumably been rudely evicted by a new housing estate/motorway widening scheme/industrial farming practices/hunter-gatherers from Arbourthorne.

In other words, someone somewhere must surely have cut down their woods for the famously reclusive critters to have made themselves so visible. David Attenburgh should investigate (or maybe Michael Palin).