Badgers will attack if they are provoked or threatened but they do not instigate the aggression. Instead, they are shy animals that are actually seldom seen because if they scent or see people, they will hide until they have gone. Being nocturnal animals makes this seclusion easier for them.
If the question was reversed and a badger was to be asked are humans dangerous, the answer would be an unequivocal yes. Badgers are a protected species and yet, even now in the 21st century, badger baiting goes on. The badgers are caught and tormented, and then pitted against dogs. The injuries to both animals are absolutely horrific but all that concerns the barbaric people who instigate this is the money that they can make through betting on what the outcome might be.
Badgers have a really fierce bite and often, to make the fight more evenly matched for the dogs, the badger’s feet or tail will be nailed to the ground. After the fight, if the badger is not already dead, it will be left to die in agony, and the dogs are never taken to the vet because the ‘sport’ is illegal.
A few years ago, there were reports of a badger called Boris who indiscriminately attacked people, making people fear badgers and describe them as being dangerous. In fact, Boris had been brought up in captivity since a cub and so had no natural fear of people. Somebody ‘rescued’ him from the wildlife centre he was in and so he was in an alien situation. Instead of having a natural instinct to hide from people, he would have attacked because he felt threatened. This was an isolated incident and brought about because of Boris’ totally unfamiliar experiences.
A badger’s natural lifespan is around 14 years, but the majority of them don’t make it to this age because of people’s interference with habitats, culling, and roads.
If the question was reversed and a badger was to be asked are humans dangerous, the answer would be an unequivocal yes. Badgers are a protected species and yet, even now in the 21st century, badger baiting goes on. The badgers are caught and tormented, and then pitted against dogs. The injuries to both animals are absolutely horrific but all that concerns the barbaric people who instigate this is the money that they can make through betting on what the outcome might be.
Badgers have a really fierce bite and often, to make the fight more evenly matched for the dogs, the badger’s feet or tail will be nailed to the ground. After the fight, if the badger is not already dead, it will be left to die in agony, and the dogs are never taken to the vet because the ‘sport’ is illegal.
A few years ago, there were reports of a badger called Boris who indiscriminately attacked people, making people fear badgers and describe them as being dangerous. In fact, Boris had been brought up in captivity since a cub and so had no natural fear of people. Somebody ‘rescued’ him from the wildlife centre he was in and so he was in an alien situation. Instead of having a natural instinct to hide from people, he would have attacked because he felt threatened. This was an isolated incident and brought about because of Boris’ totally unfamiliar experiences.
A badger’s natural lifespan is around 14 years, but the majority of them don’t make it to this age because of people’s interference with habitats, culling, and roads.
