*** Badger found shot in a blocked sett with lacerations to back end *

* Worcestershire hunt mark a fox to ground at the SAME sett 2 days before *

* Badger cull due in Worcestershire in 2020 ***

On Wednesday 7th November 2019 The Worcestershire Hunt chased a fox into a partially blocked sett near Himbleton Worcestershire. West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs were in attendance and ensured that a fox was not dug out. On 25th November we were able to speak out about what we found later that week – the following is a brief report of that day…

On Friday 9th November 2019 we examined the sett (we always check on them for activity, etc after an incident) and saw that there was some loose earth – on moving some of the earth to check if the sett had been dug out, we saw a badger’s paw sticking out of a completely covered over entrance.

We retrieved the badger and found a bullet wound in her head and what looked like bite-marks on her rear end, which bled profusely. An X-ray proved that she had been shot.

• 

• 

• 

Coincidence that the Worcestershire hunt terriermen were on that exact sett and are known for both digging out badger setts and blocking them? We are suspicious… did someone come back on the evening of the hunt to try to dig out the fox anyway and find a badger instead. With the other entrances blocked, but still obvious, this one being entirely covered over to look like a mound of earth shows that someone wanted to hide something.

We do not think that this is a one off occurence. We would advise that advice is sought from the Badger Trust if you think that something similar has occurred elsewhere. Currently being discussed on BBC Hereford and Worcestershire. The Badger Trust and West Mercia Police were both made aware at the time.

Worcester News covered this story a few days after the BBC spoke about it on the radio – check out their article here