Despite their endearing, snuffling ways and surprisingly sociable nature, badgers can be fierce when the stakes are high. Beneath that monochrome fur and waddling walk is a creature that takes territory, mating rights, and cub protection very seriously. It’s not unusual for disputes to turn violent — especially when young cubs are involved.
We suspect this particular badger, a small female weighing just 5.20kg (well below average for an adult), found herself on the wrong end of such a confrontation. Most likely, she crossed paths with another female, possibly a mother with very young cubs, and was swiftly — and painfully — shown the exit.
When she arrived with us, she was in a sorry state: a nasty wound on her rump, a puncture wound to her side, and a torn right ear all told the story of a badger battle gone awry. She was thin, exhausted, and understandably frightened. But what broke our hearts most was where she had tried to find safety — curled up inside a roll of loft insulation on a building site. Bruised, bloodied, and surrounded by itchy fiberglass fluff, she’d clearly been there for some time before being spotted and rescued.
We named her Lofty, in honour of her unusual choice of hiding place, and brought her straight to our wildlife unit. Since then, our veterinary team has been working around the clock to clean her wounds, manage the risk of infection — especially in that badly injured ear and the deep wound on her rump — and most importantly, to keep her comfortable and stress-free as she recovers.
And now for the good news: Lofty healed beautifully. Her rump wound, which initially looked pretty grim, was now clean, dry, and showing healthy new tissue. She tucked into meals with great enthusiasm — frankly, she was eating us out of house and home, but that’s just what we like to see in a recovering badger. Her weight climbed steadily!
Lofty was soon back where she belonged — in the wild, far from loft insulation and territorial turf wars.
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