Badgers in your garden

Why do badgers come into gardens?

For food. Badgers eat mostly earthworms (the Mammal Society puts it at around 60% of their diet, over 200 worms a night), plus beetles, grubs, fruit, nuts and bulbs. A well-watered lawn is a larder. Bird food, windfall fruit, compost heaps and pet food left outside are bonuses. What badgers eat

A visiting badger doesn't mean there's a sett on your land. Badgers travel along regular paths at night, and a garden may simply sit on one of their routes.

How can I tell a badger has visited?

• Snuffle holes: small cone-shaped pits that look like torn-up patches of grass.
• Rolled-back turf: strips of lawn peeled back to reach grubs underneath.
• Latrines: shallow pits with droppings left uncovered, often by a hedge or fence (badger poo guide).
• Holes under fences: often with coarse black-and-white hairs caught on the wire. Badgers can widen a small gap in about an hour.
• Footprints: five toes and long claw marks, 4.5–6.5 cm wide (compare tracks).
• Eaten bulbs, fruit or sweetcorn.

Why are badgers digging up my lawn?

Almost always for chafer grubs or leatherjackets (crane fly larvae) feeding on grass roots. If your lawn has a lot of grubs, badgers will keep coming back until they're gone. Digging is usually worst in late autumn and early spring, and in dry or frosty spells when worms are hard to reach. It's normally short-lived.

How to get rid of badgers legally (and humanely)

You can't remove badgers themselves. What you can do is make your garden less rewarding and harder to get into. In order of what usually works best:

1. Treat the grubs. The RHS recommends the nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora for chafer grubs, watered in from July to September while the soil is moist and between 12 and 20°C. For leatherjackets, use Steinernema feltiae from September to early October, with soil at least 12°C. No grubs, no reason to dig.
2. Remove easy food. Pick up windfall fruit, put bird food in feeders rather than on the ground, bring pet food in, and secure bins with clip-on lids or bungee straps. Scottish Badgers says removing easy food often leads badgers to move on.
3. Protect beds and lawns. Wire netting laid just under the soil stops digging for bulbs and grubs. Fence vegetable and fruit patches separately.
4. Fence properly. Ordinary fences won't stop a badger. The Welsh Government's specification is heavy-duty chain-link (chicken wire is usually inadequate), at least 125 cm high, buried 60 cm deep, with either a 30 cm overhang angled outwards or the mesh lapped 50 cm outwards along the ground.
5. Fit a two-way badger gate. If badgers keep digging under a fence, a gate they can push through lets them pass without wrecking it. Gates work best on an existing badger path.
6. Repair and wait. Re-seed or re-turf in mid to late spring, once grubs have moved deeper.

Before you fence anything, check there's no sett on your land and that your garden isn't a main badger route. Fencing must never block access to a sett.

What about electric fencing?

Opinions differ. Badger Trust calls electric fencing the most effective humane deterrent where it's practical. The RHS advises against it in gardens because it can kill smaller animals and hurt people or pets. GOV.UK says electric fences may be used to keep badgers off land as long as they don't block a sett. If you're considering it, talk to your local badger group first.

What doesn't work (or isn't legal)

• Repellent sprays and powders. No repellent is approved for use against badgers, and the RSPCA says there are no legal badger repellents for lawns. Products sold for cats or foxes aren't approved for badgers.
• Ultrasonic devices. Badger Trust says they're not always effective, can be expensive and may disturb other animals.
• Home remedies. Human urine, lion dung and citronella are often suggested online. They're untested, and putting substances down to deter badgers may break the law.
• Blocking holes. If a hole is part of a sett, blocking it is a crime and could trap badgers inside.
• Trapping, poisoning or moving badgers. All illegal.

What does the law say?

In England, Wales and Scotland the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 makes it an offence to kill, injure or take a badger, or to cruelly ill-treat one. It's also an offence to damage, destroy or block a sett, put a dog into a sett, or disturb a badger while it's in one. A sett is any place showing signs of current use by a badger. In Northern Ireland, badgers are protected under the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985.

In England and Wales the penalty is up to six months in prison and an unlimited fine. Scotland raised its maximums in 2020, to up to five years for the most serious offences. Garden damage is not a legal reason to harm a badger. Badger law explained

Should I feed badgers?

It's best not to make a habit of it: badgers can come to depend on you, and neighbours may not thank you. In severe weather the RHS suggests a small handful of unsalted peanuts. In a drought, when worms go deep, a shallow dish of water in a shady spot and a little wet dog or cat food can help. Put food out at dusk, clear leftovers by morning, and never feed if it draws badgers across a busy road.

How do I make my garden safe for badgers?

• Tie up football and sports netting when not in use. If an animal is caught, don't cut it free yourself; call your local badger group, because netting wounds can take days to show.
• Give ponds and pools a sloping edge or a plank so animals can climb out.
• Cover drains and deep holes.
• Clear away loose wire and litter.
• Keep dogs in at dusk if badgers visit.
• Drive slowly on country lanes at night, especially in early spring and autumn.

Frequently asked questions

Is it illegal to get rid of badgers? It's illegal to kill, harm, trap or move them, or to interfere with a sett. Deterring them by removing food and fencing is legal.

Are badgers dangerous to people or pets? Badgers avoid people. A cornered or injured badger may bite, so keep dogs on a lead near setts and keep your distance.

Will the badgers ever stop digging? Usually yes. Once the grubs are gone, or the season changes, digging tends to stop.

Someone is digging a sett near me. What do I do? Call 999 if it's happening now, or 101 afterwards, then also report it to Badger Trust. What to do in an emergency