What does badger poo look like?
It varies more than most animal droppings, because a badger's diet changes through the year.
- After worms: soft, dark, slimy or sloppy. Worms are the badger's main food, so this is common.
- After cereals or seeds: firmer and sausage-shaped, sometimes with partly digested wheat or maize.
- After fruit: purple, jelly-like and full of seeds. Bramble seeds are often the most common.
- Size: the Mammal Society gives around 10 cm long and 2 cm thick, not strongly coiled. Other guides give smaller sizes, so size alone won't settle it.
- Colour: black, brown or purple.
- Smell: musky. Sources disagree on how unpleasant it is; the Wildlife Trusts call it sweet and musky.
You might also see insect remains, and a yellowish cream or jelly thought to come from scent glands. What badgers eat
What is a badger latrine?
A dung pit is a small scrape about 15 cm across and up to 15 cm deep. Badgers poo into it and leave it uncovered. When it's nearly full they dig another one nearby. A latrine is a group of these pits: sometimes just one or two, often several, and sometimes covering several square metres.
On hard or rocky ground, badgers may leave droppings on the surface instead.
Why do badgers use latrines?
Latrines are badger noticeboards. Badgers live in family groups (clans) with territories, and they use latrines to mark them. As well as droppings, they leave scent from glands under the tail, and the smell carries information about which clan a badger belongs to.
Researchers recognise two kinds:
- Hinterland latrines, near the sett and used only by the resident clan. Expect a group within 10–20 m of a main sett.
- Boundary latrines, along the edges of the territory. Neighbouring clans often use the same boundary latrines, which is why naturalists sometimes call them "scent fences".
Some latrines stay in the same place for decades, used by generation after generation.
Where and when to find badger latrines
Look along field edges, hedges, fences and woodland paths, and near prominent features such as trees. Badgers prefer woodland edges to open arable fields. Latrines are used all year, but most of all in spring (February to April) and again in autumn (September to October), when badgers are busiest defending their territories. In very cold weather, badgers sometimes use a latrine inside the sett. More signs of badgers
Badger poo or fox poo? How to tell
Badger
Soft to firm, often sloppy; black, brown or purple; not twisted. Found in open pits, grouped in latrines.
Fox
Dog-like, twisted and pointed at one end, 8–12 cm, with fur, bones, feathers or seeds. Left on top of something prominent, such as a tussock, stone or paving slab; seldom in pits.
Hedgehog
Small (1.5–5 cm), black or dark brown, glistening with beetle wing cases. On lawns and paths.
Otter (spraint)
Black, 3–10 cm, full of fish scales, and said to smell of jasmine tea. On rocks and mounds by water.
Pine marten
Dark and coiled, 4–12 cm, with a sweet, musty smell. On tracks and paths; can look like fox.
Cat
Usually buried in soft soil and flowerbeds.
The pit is the giveaway. If the droppings are sitting in a neat, open scrape, it's almost certainly a badger. Check the footprints too
Is badger poo dangerous?
The risk is very low, but take sensible care. Badgers infected with bovine TB can shed the bacteria in their droppings, and studies of badger latrines in TB areas have found TB DNA in some samples. You can't tell an infected latrine by looking at it. UK health bodies say the risk to people is very low.
- Don't touch droppings; use a stick if you're investigating.
- Wear gloves if you need to clear any, and wash your hands afterwards.
- Cover any cuts.
- Don't let dogs eat it or roll in it.
Using badger poo to study badgers
Scientists map clan territories with bait marking. In spring they feed the badgers at each sett peanuts and syrup mixed with harmless coloured plastic pellets, a different colour for each sett. Then they search the latrines. Where two colours turn up in the same latrine, there's a territory boundary.
You can help too: record badger signs, including latrines, with the Mammal Society's free Mammal Mapper app. Never share the location of a sett publicly.
Fun facts about badger poo
- Badgers dig their own toilets.
- Neighbouring clans have "poo wars", marking their borders at shared latrines.
- Badger poo can be purple after a blackberry feast.
- Bramble seeds that pass through a badger sprout faster than seeds in whole fruit, so badgers plant brambles.
- Some badger toilets have been in use for generations.
Frequently asked questions
Do badgers always poo in the same place? Mostly. Clans use the same latrines again and again, digging fresh pits as old ones fill.
Why don't badgers cover their poo? Latrines are scent marks, and leaving them open lets other badgers read the message.
Is it illegal to remove badger poo? No. Droppings aren't protected, but setts are, so don't disturb any holes. Badger law explained