*** First badger cull baitpoints of 2019 found ***

Tuesday 15th July 2019. Baitpoints have been found in West Gloucestershire (zone 1) and are believed to be for cage trapping as they are right up at a fence near an active sett. Matthew Price (cull director) has just driven past a sab on his way to the sett and has now disappeared.

To our knowledge these are the first baitpoints found for this year’s culls but this is not suprising as this is a supplementary zone and culling is believed to have started (or could legally have started) 6 weeks ago.

The baitpoints have been here at least a few days because the badgers have left lots of peanut skins and dug down deep for more. Normal practice would then be to put cages down for them to be trapped and shot the next day. Many of those shot will be cubs, many badgers will be trapped for hours in this heat.

The peanuts may have been to lure the badgers into the field to be shot as some baitpoints went a little way into the field and if badgers don’t normally take a route that is good for shooting, bait can be left to draw them in a certain direction.

Please continue to support us in looking out for badgers in the 7th year of the cull here (which will go on until January)