Badgerlands: The Twilight World of Britain's Most Enigmatic Animal

by Patrick Barkham

Britain is the home of the badger - there are more badgers per square kilometre in this country than in any other. And yet many of us have never seen one alive and in the wild. They are nocturnal creatures who vanish into their labyrinthine underground setts at the first hint of a human. Here, Patrick Barkham follows in the footsteps of his badger-loving grandmother, to meet the feeders, farmers and scientists who know their way around Badgerlands: the mysterious world in which these distinctively striped creatures snuffle, dig and live out their complex social lives. As the debate over the badger cull continues, Barkham weighs the evidence on both sides of the argument, and delves into the rich history of the badger - from their prehistoric arrival in Britain and their savage persecution over the centuries, to Kenneth Grahame's fictional creation in Wind in the Willows and the badger who became a White House pet. From the celebrated author of The Butterfly Isles, this is rich, vivid nature writing at its best.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Natural History, Animals, Science, Ecology, Science Nature

401 pages, Paperback

First published October 3, 2013

About the author

Patrick Barkham first went butterfly spotting as a child with his father in Norfolk. His book The Butterfly Isles documents his search for as many species as possible as an adult.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Controversial creatures, badgers: here in the UK it seems they’re always in the news, blamed for disease and targeted for ruthless culling. Here Barkham presents an affectionate, balanced view of the role of badgers in Britain’s countryside. He’d noticed that “the land where badgers roamed had become a battleground on which collided all kinds of arguments about the disjuncture between the town and the country, the crisis in farming, the rights of animals and how we should best live alongside wild creatures in our countryside.”

And so with this book he sets out to find the truth behind the propaganda-influenced caricatures of “the diseased, predatory, out-of-control bad badger, and the home-loving, family-oriented good badger.”

Barkham’s stake is personal: his grandmother, Jane Ratcliffe, campaigned for badgers’ legal protection in the 1970s, writing several books including Through the Badger Gate. Following in her footsteps, albeit more tentatively, Barkham aims for impartiality. On the one hand, he meets Brian May, the Queen guitarist and now an anti-cull badger champion, visits feeding and rehabilitation centers, and celebrates the whimsical charm of Mr. Badger in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.

On the other hand, he examines those age-old stereotypes of badgers as vicious vermin, interviewing farmers who have lost livelihoods through bovine tuberculosis and recalling centuries of human violence against badgers, especially digging and baiting with dogs. He suspects that throughout history such blood sports have “satisfied whatever in the psyche makes it pleasurable for human beings to gang up on a victim.”

In Britain badgers are an easy scapegoat for the spread of bovine TB, but the statistics show a different picture. A trial badger cull in 1998 reduced TB by only 12-16%; meanwhile, testing is so rudimentary it fails to diagnose bovine TB in 20% of cases. Vaccinating badgers would be more effective – but even better would be a complete overhaul of industrialized dairy production, which curbs natural disease resistance. Unlike badgers themselves, these issues are not black and white.

Amidst the somewhat distressing stories of both historical and modern persecution, you'll find a plethora of amusing anecdotes that lighten the tone. For instance, Teddy Roosevelt and family kept an American badger named Josiah as a White House pet. Josh had been given to him during a tour of the Wild West, but when he bit too many presidential guests he was donated to the Bronx Zoo.

Barkham’s sensitive portrayal of an under-appreciated species is clearly patterned after Miriam Darlington’s in Otter Country and Hugh Warwick’s in A Prickly Affair: My Life With Hedgehogs. Yet he remains markedly unsentimental compared to those two passionate animal advocates: he even samples stir-fried badger with a roadkill aficionado. (“I admired the species and saw no contradiction between liking an animal and wanting to eat it.”)

Nonetheless, it is clear that by the end of the book the author has fallen in love with his subjects; discovering a badger sett near his new home in Norfolk, he anticipates many magical evenings spent watching one of England’s most beloved mammals.

[Emmkay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was completely fascinated, and have been pouncing on friends and family to share interesting and important information - "hey, can I read you an interesting bit about the Badger Act of 1973?" "I didn't know badgers dig outdoor latrines, did you?" "Oh no, thanks for asking, it's not about the North American badger - or the African honey badger for that matter, which is quite different - it's about the British badger."

Barkham explores not only what we know about how badgers conduct themselves, but also how humans in the UK have conducted themselves around badgers. This includes a great deal of cruelty (baiting, gassing, culling), which was difficult to read about, but sensitively discussed. As a species, we can be really rotten. On the other hand, however, the badger has also become something of a beloved figure (think of The Wind in the Willows), and there are many people who have developed intense relationships with badgers with whom they've interacted, like a quite wonderful 80 year old woman in Essex whom Barkham visits as she feeds badgers on her patio, tossing them sandwiches with a small plastic shovel. Barkham interviews people like her, as well as scientists, farmers, and activists, and also spends a lot of time trying (not always successfully) to spot badgers for himself in the wild - those passages are magical. I didn't know anything about the badger culls (to combat bovine TB) in the UK. They are obviously hotly contested, and I thought he did a terrific job exploring the issue.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mostly interesting, mostly charming look at the twilight world of one of Britain’s iconic animals. It does a good job of going into the history of badgers and discussing why they’re seen as pests, when they started to be rehabilitated, even a little about one of Britain’s more famous badgers (the one from The Wind in the Willows, of course) and his author. It’s part natural history, part social history, and then veers into the modern problem of badger culling, etc.

Quite interesting, but I skipped some chapters because they didn’t interest me, and there was a slight tinge of superiority in Barkham’s attitude in some places.

Originally posted here.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Badger is one of the UKs largest native mammals, and it is also an animal that people have early seen because of its nocturnal habit. The most common sighting is a twisted corpse alongside a road. bark ham has never set eyes on a live one and the book starts by him visiting a couple of setts at night with the hope of glimpsing one of these enigmatic creatures. He fails.

He meet with people who are badger feeders, and finally gets his sighting of a real badger in a back garden. These people care deeply for these animals, though opinion is divided as to whether they are helping the population or not. Whilst he is please he has seen these unique creatures, he still hasn't seen them in their natural habitat. He visits a rescue centre too, and sees people carrying on the work of campaigning and care for badgers. His grandmother, Jane Ratcliffe, had done this back in the seventies, and even wrote several books published too, including, Through the Badger Gate.

The badger is a political animal these days as is is blamed by the farming community for spreading bovine TB. Barkham meets people on both sides of the farm gate, and considers the evidence for and against. It is a complex subject, and the recent cull in the West Country has not proven one way or the other if it is working or not.

There is a chapter on the baiting of badgers, a 'sport' if you can uses that word for such horrible event, of setting dogs onto them. It has always been a working class thing, and sadly still takes place today, though much less frequently. He considers the badger in literature; i thought that this was the weakest part of the book.

With his new twins he moves from London out to Norfolk, a place not normally associated with badgers as it is too damp and low lying, but when wandering around he notices the signs of a sett and one evening sees a family of badgers.

A book well worth reading for those that want to understand more about these animals. Barkham writes in an accessible, engaging style and it makes for an enjoyable read.

[Kelly Furniss · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book the author covers Badgers through history, literature, politics and culls .
Also with him we meet some people who help protect and care for badgers professionally or just in their own gardens.
The research is evident with facts, figures and plenty knowledge demonstrated.
All sides of the arguments are presented fairly when issues such as bovine TB are discussed.
A fascinating glimpse into a animal I knew little about before the book.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love badgers! They are the best. Did you know that badgers have been living in Britain for longer than we have? We have a higher density of badgers here than anywhere else in the world. Britain belongs to the badgers as much as it does to anyone.

Humans! We are the worst. We have persecuted badgers for most of our history. Gassing their sets, sending terriers down there to ravage their cubs while we cheer them on, trapping and baiting them for entertainment, and, most recently, blaming them for the bovine TB that is most probably the result of our poor husbandry and irresponsible breeding.

I'm ranting now. Parts of this book were upsetting. Whole swathes of it are charming: he, a city dweller, haplessly goes badger spotting; he reminds me of the Protection of Badgers Act thus reminding me that not all humans are murderous shitbags; he hangs out with people who nurse, feed and research badger communities; he even eats some roadkill badger (newsflash: it's gross).

As an aside, did you know that the same guy (the 8th Earl of Arran) wrote the Protection of Badgers Act and introduced the Sexual Offences Bill that decriminalised homosexuality? Someone buy that man a drink!

Barkham is clearly a nature lover but his efforts at balance are admirable and he gives an excellent account of all sides of the argument in the bovine TB debate, from which I learnt a lot, coming down in the end on the same side that he did. And you can probably guess which side that is.

[Sophy H · Rating 1 out of 5]

On page 255, Barkham uttered these words:-

"We talked about my book and I told him something I had not dared mention to.....some of the other badger lovers: that I wanted to eat badger as part of my exploration of our relationship with the species" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTAF?!!!!

At this point I thought oh fuck off Barkham you utter gobshite!!

My relationship with badgers is one of respect, awe and admiration. Stupidly I thought this book would be a celebration of the same. Most chapters however can't stop mentioning brutality, death, maiming and violence towards badgers. Dog attacks, sett destruction, ripping off jaws, it goes on and on completely unnecessarily. I fucking hate people who are cruel to animals.

Barkham seems to think he is presenting a "well rounded" study of the species. I on the other hand think this book stinks. If you truly appreciate this wonderful nocturnal humbug striped creature, avoid this book like the plague!

[Matthew Trickett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts off with an interesting history of badgers, then he takes a turn for the worse. In his research he finds it necessary to eat a badger and call animal rights campaigners "nutters". By the end he sympathyses with farmers and advocates that they should be able to shoot badgers. Just in case you weren't expecting that kind of outcome, be warned, it may be a waste of time for you. You might want to throw this book against a wall. For anyone who wants to just know a bit about this animal's history in Britain, I suggest you read the first half and then carry on to something else. I might be wanting an antidote book to this. Feels worse than having TB to read this bullshit.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took a break in the middle of reading this, but that didn’t take away my enjoyment of Badgerlands. I admired the blend of factual history, nature writing, journalism and lyrical prose that makes up this book. I was fascinated to explore Britain’s complicated relationship with badgers and culling and legislation. I really enjoyed the final thought you were left with concerning the state of British farming. So informative and so lovely to read, I highly recommend Badgerlands!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this at an event at my local bookshop a year or so ago and really I have no idea why I even picked it up as it is not my usual sort of read. But I kept coming back to it and eventually took it to the cash register.

I liked the style of writing and felt quite ashamed that the ongoing issue of bovine TB and the badger cull of a few years ago was something that largely passed me by. Like most people badgers are creatures that I only see in children books and in a less than healthy state at the side of the road when driving. It was fascinating to have my eyes opened and be shown the strong feelings these fabulous (or not so fabulous depending on your point of view) creatures evoke.

I would probably read more by this author. It must have been a lengthy project to undertake but the results are very readable, interesting and even handed.

[David Santiuste]

A fine book, combining scholarship, reportage and personal reflection. In part, it provides a good summary of the debate about culling - presenting the arguments of both sides with admirable detachment - but there's much more here; the most recent controversies must be seen as part of a much longer story, as the author makes clear. Barkham also draws intelligently upon the work of natural historians (as well as the knowledge of lay enthusiasts), providing an interesting insight into the lives of the animals themselves. His own observations are always valuable: he writes beautifully about his own forays into 'Badgerland'.

Ultimately the deepest question this book attempts to address is why the badger is a source of such fascination for British people (Barkham included); and so how the arguments about its fate have become so bound up with other conflicts in British society (town versus country, ongoing class divisions, etc). Part of the answer, perhaps, lies in the fact that badgers are one of the few animals left in Britain that have the temerity to *compete* with humans (albeit in a discreet and limited way). With that being the case, is it any wonder they have provoked such a curious mixture of respect and loathing? But this is no polemic: Barkham's style is relaxed and conversational, and he is more inclined to explore than judge. I found this book a pleasure to read, and would recommend it to others.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

didn’t think i could sustain interest in badgers for 300 pages but actually think i could have read about them for at least another hundred

[Alex Sarll]

Read on a visit to the countryside, and the one place I've seen a live badger, though despite my vague efforts there was no reprise this time. It's a cultural history of Britain's mixed feelings regarding them, wrapped around a popular science book about them, given urgency by being written around the time of the cull - on which Barkham remains legitimately unconvinced by the arguments on all sounds, coming to see it as a sticking plaster on far bigger problems in our relationship with the countryside. There were times early on when I wasn't sure if I'd persevere with the book, chunks of passable prose and typically uninteresting personal life (oh, you're having kids and moving out of London? Do tell me more of this incredibly novel story) which reminded me that this stuff isn't nearly as easy as a Rob Macfarlane or John Lewis-Stempel makes it look. But even when Barkham's writing isn't that great, his subject carries him through; there's always another fascinating mustelid fact on the next page. Scientists often class them as not very bright because, setts notwithstanding, they don't tend to be that sociable. But this is a species that buries its dead! So maybe they're just bright but a bit antisocial, eh? Yes, it is possible that given the continued, cowardly refusal to reintroduce bears, they are the British animal with which I identify most, and yes I am counting humans in that.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A interesting read which really looks at our relationships with Badgers throughout the ages taking us to the modern era and the bovine TB cull controversy.
I'm fairness though there's little doubt the author is a fan of the Badger and had family links to their conservation he does within the books report fairly on the reasons for the cull and the devastating effect Badgers may have on livestock...I say may as though there seems little doubt Badgers are part of the problem they are far from all of it..intensive farming ,false positives on cattle and the likelihood of other mammals carrying the strain of TB could also play a part.
It's a book best read with an open mind to be honest as you will draw your own conclusions on how you feel things stand at the end...pretty much the case I went in with one thought..wavered in the middle ground for a while and once finished retain a love for the Badger but do think some questions need answering and there is no present simplistic answer...vaccination sadly seems something there's little will for.
We have a new Government now and I think the countryside and farming may well take centre stage as the EU withdrawal seemingly continues so as to what lies next for the Badger who knows?
All in all a recommended book.

[Charlie Alcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much this was a state-of-the-nation narrative as much as a natural and cultural history of badgers. I found it fascinating and absolutely whizzed through it. And got it read onstage at an improv show! Now eagerly awaiting the sequels about mushrooms and snakes.

[Theres · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit about badgers and the people who care for them, and a bit more about the ethics of culls (which the author deliberate stays on the fence about). Very interesting.

[Rory Lilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very niche stuff but fun, thanks Shov and Fez

[River · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, it's hard for me to be evenhanded about Badgerlands, but I suspect it may be my fault more than Patrick Barkham's. I went into this book with the expectation of finding an educational pop-naturalist tome focussing on badgers. While the blurb and first few chapters seem to promise such a thing, eventually it devolves into an extended discussion on the efficacy and morality of the 2013 badger cull. Again, I perhaps should have expected that to play a larger role owing to Badgerlands being released at a time in the UK where badgers and culls were inseparable in public discourse, but it did leave the book feeling somewhat outdated and aimless.

Another element of my disappointment would be that it has been written not by a naturalist, ecologist or biologist, but by a journalist. As a result, it can sometimes read like an extended and often dull thinkpiece rather than a rigorous piece of non-fiction. So much of the contents of Badgerlands is made up of conversations with farmers, amateur badger enthusiasts or just random members of the public that I often wondered if the book wouldn't have been better off as half its current length. Perhaps that would ease the lack of direction here too. Barkham's attempt to apply a journalistic eye and even hand to an extremely contentious issue means that any actually interesting tidbits or factoids are often immediately contradicted or otherwise undermined by Patrick. Even now I struggle to remember more than a handful of facts or statistics from the best part of 400 pages.

Despite its padding and aimlessness, Badgerlands isn't a painful read. Bland, but inoffensive and largely readable (much like most of the thinkpieces you see in the centrist Guardian of today). I wouldn't say I even particularly disliked this book, but I'll almost certainly never pick it up again. After finishing it, the main thing I have gained is confidence in my assertion that non fiction should be penned by experts in the field, not random journalists or work for hire authors who just like the idea of researching a favourite topic for a few months.

[Curtis Runstedler · Rating 5 out of 5]

'We're fighting the symptoms--fox-hunting or badger culling--but we're also trying to fight what's underneath it, which is this mentality that says human beings are the only creatures on this planet who matter.'
-Brian May

Barkham's book covers all the bases: badger conservation, a history of the badger (from horrific badger digging to its near extinction to its literary return via The Wind of the Willows and comeback in the twentieth century), the bovine TB outbreak, and the increasingly complex ethical issues of the recent badger culls. There are no easy answers for many of these questions, but Barkham's exploration is concise, engaging, and particularly thought-provoking. I really liked how he not only endorsed badger conservation, but was sympathetic to animal rights activists and farmers whose industry was affected by the TB outbreak (interesting ideas about improving animal husbandry too). I think the best way forward with sustainable futures for badgers is education: workshops, seminars, public lectures, children's programmes (maybe more badger literature and television programmes). Education with these creatures is the way forward, and I think it's an important way of breaking down Conservative views of being in control of the natural world. We are not the only beings on this planet, and as populations soar and climate change increases, we have to be more conscious about this. We share this island with the badger, and the badger shares it with us too. The badger can live with us, and we must learn to live with it.

[Juliet Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subtitled 'The Twilight World of Britain's Most Enigmatic Animal' and beautifully illustrated by Jake Blanchard, this is an interesting look at this relatively common but very elusive mammal.

Barkham looks at various aspects of the badgers lifestyle and how it has been treated by humans through the ages, from being hunted and baited to being revered on one hand for their looks and personality and a figure of hatred on the other, for their suspected role in spreading bovine TB. Badgers have given their name to various places in the UK and have their place as characters in fiction from Wind in the Willows to Rupert Bear, yet most people never see them!

Badgers are very intelligent - I love the detail in an early chapter that a badger has been observed lining its sett with a waterproof sheet before making its nest!

Barkham visits people with different opinions to badgers, from animal rescue workers (including Brian May, former guitarist with Queen who has his own badger rescue centre), scientists researching badger ecology, people who feed the badgers in their gardens and people on both sides of the badger cull debate. He investigates the efficacy of the badger cull in reducing bovine TB in cattle and after a very even handed discussion he comes to his conclusion.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed The Butterfly Isles but this book was even better.
I've never seen a live badger in the wild despite living in the countryside in an area that I know they inhabit (I've seen plenty lying dead by the roadside). And no, I won't be turning the road kill into badger stirfry as happens in the book!
A higher density of badgers lives in Britain than anywhere else in the world. Barkham says that our history of dealing with badgers over the centuries is 'one of relentless brutality', and we still use the verb 'to badger'.
I like the way he divides the book up into different aspects - for and against culling, badger baiting, badgers in Literature etc.
Barkham sits on the fence in his attitude, and this works well. He gives equal billing to the voices of those that consider badgers as TB carrying vermin and those that consider them fascinating creatures who have every right to be here undisturbed.
Badgerlands concentrates on the subject in hand and doesn't go off into areas of Barkham's personal life - something that I think weakened The Butterfly Isles.

[Jemima Pett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patrick Barkham's quest to really understand the badger and the part he plays in English culture takes him and us to some dark and dangerous places, as well as beautiful crepuscular places deep in the countryside, lyrically described so the moss, cuckoo and scent-marking assault your senses. He brings a fascinating journalistic approach to every aspect from pre-history and literature to rescued animals and the great badger-cull fiasco of 2012. Well, he actually finishes with the resurgence of badgers in Norfolk.

[Artemis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would have been better if not for the casual racism/sexism that occasionally pops up within it.

I was able to learn more about the political setting around badgers in Britain and for that I am grateful. I also learned a small bit about badger behavior, and that was my main goal. I am slightly disappointed on how shallow the information was, however.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of short accounts of the treatment / life of a well known animal.

Some of the sections were good, but the writing was incredibly dry and in places incoherent - needed a good edit.

Overall rating 2.5.

Reading time around three hours.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty thorough foray into the night world of the badger covering every aspect of its presence and history in the UK and its position within our society, compiled from direct experiences and interviews with those on all sides of the various fences there are when it comes to this species. Some details are of course graphic, disturbing, and unsettling, and show how little consideration some have for the species. On the other hand there are plenty that demonstrate that the species is as loved as it is hated including those that feed and research them. Barkham also unearths plenty that sit on both sides feeling the pain of impacts from TB and other diseases but also realising that one wild species can't and isn't responsible for the problems found. This is upheld by research and data that Barkham presents along with an interesting view from the veterinary world that points at a wholly two legged cause to many of the problems placed at the sett entrance. I did feel that for much of the book Barkham lacked a little passion in his quest but this did seem to come out as the book progressed, especially when he returned home and discovered a sett near his childhood home. I also took slight umbrage with how us ecologists were described on occasion, many of us are just as passionate about individual species as we are the environment as a whole, that's often why we became ecologists.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant edition to any budding ecologist or naturists shelves.

My (quick) summary:
Barkham explores Britain's historical and modern connections with the nocturnal and elusive (at least in his own badger watching attempts) Badger. His accounts give voice to many different people's lives with these creatures, laying out the many different lives touched by Badgers and the opinions and beliefs formed thereof.

My opinions on the book:
A gripping book, I highly recommend for those who enjoy books such as Raptor by James Lockheart or A Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks. The pacing is not slow at all, but doesn't go too fast (so no re-reading passages!). Its a mix of History, natural sciences and politics but all seamlessly woven together, all carefully dodging the danger of boredom which is endemic in those subject often in nonfiction - believe me, I know.
p.s. If there are any fans of Wind in the willows considering reading this book, there's a whole chapter on Badger. You're welcome.

And One Negative:
Just wanted to note it seemed like lower classes were blamed for the atrocities of badger baiting as it was most popular there. It's a shame that its wasn't seen as individual abusers, rather than whole classes of abusers.
(Comment your thoughts on this if you have read it, I would be interested to see other peoples interpretations.)

[Desertorum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is important book. Then why not more stars? I´m not sure. This just didn´t grab me entirely (maybe because I´m not british). I felt it might have been little shorter.

It was hard (but also important for the book) to read about violent killings of badgers. I´m not against hunting but I think it must be done swift and clean. I don´t understand using dogs in it. There is so much to say about it but I´m not going to go there.
I also don´t understand people who are not able to just observe nature (and animals). Why do they need to feed wild animals? I think it is potentially more harming to animals than doing them good. Mostly people feed them something that doesn´t belong to their normal diet. And animals also starts to get used to people and this makes them easy "targets" to people who wants to harm them.

The book did good job at presenting many side to this badger debate and I was so glad about the vet statement at the end. It gave some hope. I find it always sad when these things cannot be discussed with facts and without politics. But it´s same everywhere. In my country it´s about wolves mainly (and wolverine).

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taken aback at how much I enjoyed this book - very readable! Unlike other nature books, this one never delves into the biology of the badger and having finished it now, I can see that's because it only explores the badger through its relationship with humans. Each chapter depicts another way that humans and badgers interact.

I especially appreciated the nuance with which the author approached this topic. He doesn't rage against farmers for supporting badger culls; when he depicts a trial of some people caught badger baiting there's a range in representing them as having done something horrific and also creating slight empathy trying to understand how they could do that (badger baiting being passed down working class families in the North); and even when he features people who feed badgers in their gardens, even there we see them both as good guys helping badger populations recover but also questioning if they should be feeding wild animals.

This had been on my TBR for a couple of years and I'm so so glad I finally got around to reading it!

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book which at times was hard to bear, but worth the endeavour. All who have an opinion about Badgers get their say. The extreme cruelty is dealt with as is the love individuals show to these determined and unafraid animals who share the countryside with baiters, admirers and those whose class struggle includes badger loving or baiting as almost their identifying feature.. The intelligence of the badgers and omnivorous diet have kept them living alongside country people, whether as difficult or lovable neighbours. Blame for TB in cattle is loked at very thoroughly, and perhaps ultimately the pressures of Big Farming has run down the strength and resistance to disease of our dairy herds, seeing only volume of milk production as being important, so cattle become less resilient, and their quality of life is of little importance to many. Journalism of a high degree, and giving airtime to all views.

[Podge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look I have loved Badgers ever since I was small and became aware of Bill Badger in the Rupert the bear annuals. They were bloody good so 46 years later to read this book about Badgers given to me by my sister was a boon. I have always thought they are a beautiful creature if. Tad smelly looking I guess,however this book was just brilliant. I learnt so much about them although when he was eating roadkill badger I was not so sure about where it was going.The book is absolutely everything badger from discussion about TB and the farmers and the apparent waste of money on the cull,to standing watching and waiting for them under a bush with the badger staying in its hole because it has already detected your presence 100’s of metres away in the dark!
Really class read will pick up some more Barkham books had a look already but not sure will be as good as this!
Recommend