7
report any suspicious characters seen in the
vicinity of badger setts to the police
IMMEDIATELY. The police are well-informed and
eager to stamp out this -foul practice, but they
need our help; two court cases are pending at
the moment of writing this article. It is
largely due to the efforts of the Essex Badger
Patrol and others who keep an eye on "their"
setts that we have no more in prospect.
As Cowlin (1972) previously noted, sett
densities vary throughout the county with the
highest concentrations in the south. However,
only 9% of the 57 10 km squares that cover
Essex have recorded sett densities of "common"
to "very common" (Neal, 1986) 567. of the
county's 10 km squares have recorded sett
densities that would be regarded by Neal as
"scarce" to "absent". These recorded sett
densities do not take into account the 31%
unavailable/untenable setts; clearly, if we
wish to keep our badgers, attempts must be made
to conserve them.
What can be done? Badger setts must be
protected from undue disturbance, be it from
badger diggers, pet dogs or severe Hunt
stopping and great care must be taken by those
involved in game preservation: too many
badgers are killed as a result of fox control
methods, chiefly gassing and snaring. But it
is not enough to safeguard the sett; badgers
must have feeding areas too, and the means to
gain access to them. Rough patches in the
corners of fields, copses, hedgerows and "waste
land" are all good sources of food for badgers,
and must be in close proximity to the sett, or
else badgers will die on the road in an attempt