If you’ve been living in your home for any amount of time, you’ve probably had to deal with some sort of wildlife issue. One common problem many homeowners face is badgers digging up their lawn in search of food.
Badgers are cute, cuddly creatures that can be interesting to watch, but they can also be a nuisance when they show up on your lawn. These animals like to burrow and can create large holes in your yard. While it may seem like there’s not much you can do to stop these critters, there are actually a few things you can do to discourage them from coming back. With a bit of effort, you can keep these furry creatures from wreaking havoc on your yard!
In this blog post, we will share some tips on how to keep badgers off your lawn so you can enjoy your property without any unwanted visitors. Keep reading to learn more!
What Are Badgers?
Badgers are mammals that are in the same family as weasels, minks, ferrets, and otters. They are omnivores, meaning they eat both meat sources and vegetation. They are nocturnal as well, meaning they are awake primarily at night.
The body of a badger is short and wide, with small legs and sharp claws used primarily for digging. They have weasel-like heads that are elongated, with tiny ears. They have black faces with unique white markings, grey bodies with a bright-colored stripe from head to tail, and dark legs with light-colored bellies underneath.
Their tails vary in length based on species as well as age, but they can be up to 20 inches long. They can grow to around 35 inches long, with their tail included.
Why Are They In Your Garden?
The badger is an omnivorous animal and feeds on a wide range of foods, including earthworms, insect larvae, plant bulbs, and fruit and vegetables. They are most likely searching for food when they dig holes in your garden or compost heap.
Lawns and grasses that have been closely trimmed offer a perfect habitat for them to discover and excavate for cockchafer, cutworm, and leatherjackets.
Sprinkles, crumbs, and other food remnants are also popular attractants. They’re attracted to spilled bird seed, particularly peanuts, so be sure to clean up your bird-feeders regularly!
How To Know If Badgers Are In Your Garden
There are a few signs that you can and should watch out for if you think badgers have gotten into your garden. Because badgers are nocturnal, you might not ever see them during the day digging up your lawn or burrowing around in your garden, but you might see these signs.
First, look for any holes or spots that seem to be dug up in your lawn or garden. Badgers look for bugs and grubs that live in the soil, and they dig to get down there.
Another sign is fruit, vegetables, or flower petals that partially eaten. Badgers, if they can’t any insects to eat, will quickly move on to any planted fruit and vegetables in your yard.
A third sign that badgers could be in your lawn is that your fence around your property is broken. Yes, badgers are strong enough to have broken a fence to get through it. Also look for holes that could have been dug underneath the fencing from the outside.
How To Get Rid Of Badgers
We now know that badgers are nocturnal creatures that move around at night, digging in the soil for grubs and bugs to eat. If you want to get these animals out of your lawn and garden, there are a few tricks and methods you can try.
Does A Fence Work?
As we mentioned before, badgers can dig under a fence, climb over it, as well as break one down if it can’t get through any other way. They will rip through wire fencing with ease, as well as simple wooden fencing that is not planted strongly and deeply in the ground.
What you can do for fencing is put in a deep-set metal fence that is strong and goes down far into your soil. Something like a wrought-iron fence would be perfect, as well as look great. Another option would be to get an electric fence. You can turn it on when you go to bed and switch it off in the morning when you wake up. This is probably the most likely way to keep badgers out via a fence.
However, both of these options are quite expensive and can be disruptive to other wildlife as well as pets that roam around your backyard.
Eliminate Its Food Sources
You can try to get rid of badgers with motion sensors or hot peppers but the most effective way is to eliminate their food sources. Badgers are omnivorous and will eat just about anything, including insects, earthworms, rodents, snakes, birds, fruits and vegetables.
One way to reduce the reasons for badgers to come into your lawn in the first place is to eliminate any of these major food sources that they associate with your yard. For example, take down any bird-feeders you might have. If you keep a compost pile that attracts worms and insects, maybe keep that covered in a bin or with other objects.
Maintaining a healthy and well-groomed lawn will also reduce the number of grubs and other insects that live on it, therefore further reducing the food sources for a badger.
Motion Sensors
Using motion sensors such as floodlights or sprinklers can be effective badger repellants. These scare the animals enough that they leave the yard pretty much immediately.
However, given enough repetitions the badgers might not be scared of them anymore and could just learn to live with them, if it means they still get their food. These deterrents are best used in conjunction with others. They are also quite expensive, so if you’re on a budget it might not be feasible to install motion sensing lights or sprinklers.
Hot Peppers
Scotch bonnet chilies are extremely spicy. Place crushed pepper on the ground or in areas where you believe badgers might enter, as well as around the perimeter.
A badger has limited sight, so it mostly relies on its sense of smell. If they detect anything as repulsive to the nose as these chili peppers, they’ll be compelled to return.
Urine
Spraying male urine around the yard creates a recognizable ‘signature’ that identifies it as a male’s territory. Badgers, on the whole, will comply and move on once they smell this. It is not the most glamorous deterrent, but it does work. Just make sure to do it at a place and time that no one else can see you.
Citronella Oil
The smell of citronella is repulsive to many wild animals, including badgers. Applying it to the bottom of fences and around entrances may be sufficient to keep them away, unless they are extremely hungry. Although this repellent is effective, it must be applied frequently to be effective because the scent fades over time and in the rain.
Final Thoughts
Badgers are adorable but can be a nuisance when they start digging up gardens in search of grubs and other food. If you have a badger problem, there are several ways to get rid of them – some more humane than others. We hope this article has given you the information you need to make an informed decision about how to deal with these pesky creatures. Have you had success using one of these methods? Let us know in the comments!
