Save our Badgers - Say NO to Badger Cull in England and Wales! Say YES to vaccine!

A chap came in the shop one day with a poster 'Save our Badgers' - I couldn't display the poster in the shop due to 'company policy' however I kept it to read and display somewhere perhaps in my car window or somewhere else for everyone to see. It seems that the Badgers are being blamed for passing Bovine TB to cattle but apparently this is only 'heresay' there is no actual proof that the Badgers are to blame.

Apparently, a mass cull has been sanctioned by our coalition government, giving farmers in England and Wales the right to kill Badgers on sight. There is also an option to vaccinate them but the farmers say it is too expensive. How do you way up the cost of the lives of these beautiful animals?

I don't believe that the government should sanction 'mass murder' of the Badgers on 'heresay'. I think until there is 'absolute proof' that Badgers pass the Bovine TB disease on to the cattle they should be left alone and monitored and if the 'proof' is provided then they should be vaccinated.

Say NO to culling the Badgers and YES to vaccine! Our badgers should be protected.

MYTH: Control of wildlife is the only way of getting rid of the bovine TB in cattle.

FACT: Other countries have dealt with the problem by controlling cattle movements.

MYTH: Bovine TB has spread because of better legal protection for the badger.

FACT: There are many cases of bovine tb in cows where there are no badgers.

MYTH: Badgers infected with bovine TB suffer, so culling them would improve their welfare.

FACT: Few badgers have the disease (under 15 per cent in one study) and there is no evidence it impacts on the badger population.

MYTH: Culls in Ireland, the U.S. and New Zealand have proved this method could work in England.

FACT: There are many differences between these countries. In Northern Ireland, bovine tb is decreasing without a cull.

MYTH: Many scientists support the cull.

FACT: The government’s own scientific group said culling will make no meaningful difference and many reputable scientists agree it could make things worse.

• Badgers are related to otters, stoats, weasels, polecats and pine martens.
• Badgers are nocturnal, shy, retiring animals that live in social or family groups.
• Badger's homes are called sett's.
  
• The sett is an underground home, often with lots of tunnels.
• Badgers grow up to 36" long and weigh from 22 to 27 lbs.
• Badger prints are broader than they are long with five toes and five long, they have non-retractable powerful claws that they use for digging.
• A Badger's sense of smell is the most important sense. Badgers forage for food with their snouts constantly sniffing the ground ahead of them.
• Badgers are omnivorous and eat a wide variety of foods, their main diet consists of earthworms, up to 200 per day.
• Badgers are less active during winter months but don't hibernate.
• The mating process involves "delayed implantation".  Females are able to mate any time after the cubs are born the fertilised egg does not implant in the uterus until December.
• Badger cubs are normally born in February, the number of cubs usually being between one and three. Cubs emerge about May after spending the first 8-10 weeks underground.