*** Badger sett dug out in Ledbury hunt country within the last 24 hours * 4 other setts found blocked ***

Today was very cold and very foggy. A hard frost can harm horses’ legs and hounds’ paws, whilst thick fog is very dangerous as no one can see where the hounds are if they run. Hunts often get cancelled in severe weather but they often don’t and another scenario is those who want to hunt turning up at the meet and then seeing if the fog lifts or the ground softens. They can also go out on foot. So sabs and monitors have to check to see what is going on. As the hunt themselves are often not sure as whether or not they are cancelling the same preparation for a hunt will occur.

Today 5 freshly blocked active badger setts were found. Sadly one of them had a very large backfilled hole indicative of a dig out of either a fox or badger. We do not know the fate of those who were in the sett and West Mercia Police and the Badger Trust have been informed. It is not certain whether the Ledbury cancelled, whether they were ridiculous enough to hunt in very thick fog today and they just were not seen or whether they hunted yesterday (there were some hoofprints in the usual haunts). What ever the case the hard frost made the earth blocking the entrances boulder like and difficult to move. Regardless of whether or not hunts go out, sett checking can save lives and they will not bother unblocking if they cancel.