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Posted on 04/18/2007 11:19:51 AM PDT by Stoat

Residents banned from evicting sex-mad badgers

They are neighbours from hell whose nocturnal activities leave a trail of destruction in their wake.

With no regard for personal property, they hold wild parties, regularly fight each other and wake local residents with noisy late-night passionate encounters outside.

Numbering at least 40, they have damaged gardens in the suburban neighbourhood where they live...and worst of all they are above the law.

For the culprits are not lawless youths but a colony of badgers, whose protected status means little can be done to stop their destructive antics.

Over the last seven years residents of a neighbourhood in the Gleadless area of Sheffield are at their wits end following the havoc caused by the black and white animals.

Richard Oldham, 43, of Kew Crescent, is at the end of his tether thanks to the badgers. First they dug holes all over his lawn then they dug out the footings of a decking costing £2,000, which later had to be demolished.

Next they dug a massive hole under the garden shed used by his two year-old daughter Olivia as a playhouse.

And then his garden fence fell down because the badgers dug out his concrete posts.

He is also having to keep a constant eye on his toddler as he has been told adult badgers can attack if they think their offspring are in danger.

He said:"The badgers have free run around here. My whole garden is undermined by their tunnels. I daren't let Olivia play out - if she doesn't fall down a hole they are likely to attack her protecting their pups."

Mr Oldham contacted South Yorkshire Badger Group to see what he could do about the problem - and was told he couldn't do anything to disturb the animals which have pups at this time of year.

Once they have reared their pups he can apply for a licence from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to install badger gates around his property.

Then, after several months monitoring the gates to ensure the badgers have all left his garden, he will be able to install permanent barriers.

All this will have to be done under the supervision of a government-appointed consultant at a cost of several thousand pounds.

But Mr Oldham, who is disabled after suffering a stroke, said he can't afford the work. Even if he could the barriers don't work, according to 73-year-old John Cooper of nearby Smithfield Road.

Mr Cooper, whose garden is separated from Mr Oldham's by a brook, said the animals trample and wreck the vegetables he grows in the garden of his £130,000 semi.

"I've put in all the barriers but nothing works -they get round them eventually. I've lived here for more than 40 years and there was never a problem until around seven years ago when I fell down a hole in my lawn almost breaking my leg.

"Now there are 19 badger setts within 100 yards. Each provides home to a male and female and at this time of year they have pups - the badgers are taking over.

"Don't get me wrong, I love to see them play, but they can be quite scary especially when they are fighting. One night there was a hell of a noise and I woke up to find one large badger had been killed by a rival badger in my garden.

"When they have young they will attack people to protect them. I'd like to think they can be moved away to a place which is better suited to them than here - somewhere well away from houses."

Monica Ward of the South Yorkshire Badger Group, said that it was unlikely that the badgers could be moved.

"It is illegal to interfere with their setts in any way. All we can do is advise people on the best way to make their gardens badger-proof.

"There is a problem in Kew Crescent and we have done all we can to help out. We wrote to 100 houses advising people not to feed the badgers as it encourages them.

"We also arranged a meeting in a local church to which only four people turned up - and none of them had any complaints about the badgers."

Mr Cooper lives in a £250,000 detached bungalow as does next door neighbour Michael Broomhead, 60 a retired butcher.

Mr Broomhead said :"I am a keen gardener and I spend a lot of time, effort and money on my garden growing vegetables, flowers and looking after my lawn but the badgers just destroy everything in their path.

"They are very powerful animals and dig huge holes looking for worms. They have felled three trees by digging under them, trampled all my crops and they make a terrible racket at night.

"When they are having sex they howl and scream and when they are fighting they make terrible blood curdling noises as if they are being murdered. Whatever we do we can't keep them out of the gardens.'

"If we built a large wooden badger-"

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