Squish

Maybe I’m more aware of it this week, with Death of the Mau, but on my drive to and from work I’ve noticed a lot more dead animals by the roadside this week.

Uncommonly, the great majority seem to be badgers (of varying sizes and ages) which I always find very sad.  At least these are on dual-carriageways, rather than the completely-intact bodies I sometimes see on the edge of other roads. (I’m never quite convinced that these aren’t actually from farmers/people gassing them, and using the roads as a convenient excuse/reason for dead badger, and disposal thereof. But I’m horrifically cynical)

In my opinion it’s always sad to see dead badgers – they’re awesome creatures – but particularly seeing younger ones depresses me.

I suppose it’s that time though, with semi-mature ones making way for new litters and exploring the world, and also post-winter-sleep. (I know they don’t ‘hibernate’ as such, but they certainly appear to slow down significantly over winter)  All the same, you’d hope that a driver would notice a bloody big black-and-white creature lumbering across a dual-carriageway. (I know they don’t, because they have issues noticing other cars, let alone animals. But still, we can hope)


3 Comments on “Squish”

  1. Blue Witch says:

    We’ve noticed lots of dead badgers on roads in recent weeks, too. I wonder if it’s the TB affecting them physically, and making them less able to be agile, as myxomatosis does to rabbits?

  2. lyle says:

    I don’t know – they’re always listed as ‘carriers’ of bTB, but I don’t know if it actually affects badgers. (i.e. the same way that bubonic plague didn’t kill the rat carriers, but did pass on)

  3. Z says:

    I’ve seen more dead badgers by the road than ever before. No idea of any pssible significance.


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