To be on Team Badger with this one?

[HiccupHippup]

I have an allotment, one of about 50 plots. They were created about 10 years ago. I’ve lived next door to the field they were made in for 40 years. During that time the badger population has drastically decreased and I rarely see signs of them anymore (the other 3 fields became housing estates, with more under construction at the moment).
Until one has dug under my shed on my allotment plot! (I noticed before Christmas).
The committee have contacted me to say they’ve found a hole on my plot and have filled it in… (illegally I think).
Instinctively I’m on the badgers side here as we’ve stolen so much of their environment but I do admit my allotment is a hobby for me and I don’t rely on it to feed myself/family, so I’m not precious about it like many of the committee. And I mostly prefer animals to people.

I'm with you, OP. Team badger all the way.

Go Badger!

Would've thought a badger on patrol to eat the slugs and snails would be a nice addition to the allotment team

It's illegal to interfere with a badger sett, so the committee should be reported to the police for wildlife crime. I would report them, I'm on team Badger every time. As you say humans have encroached on their homes for decades, theure just trying to survive.

This, absolutely. Report the evil fuckers.

Team badger all the way. I'd report them.

Team badger all the way! What they've done is illegal.

Team badger definitely.

We had badgers on our allotment a couple of years ago, it was our first year there, they absolutely decimated my sweetcorn ate the lot, they didn’t touch anything else at all.

I noticed afterwards that other plot holders had fenced their sweetcorn in, speaking to them it’s the only crop the badgers have ever shown any interest in.

I'd report them too.

Team badger!

you need all sorts of permits to fill in badger setts. It's quite expensive! They need to be blocked with one way doors to ensure any badgers inside can get out for a start.

They can tunnel quite extensively though which can be problematic.

I can’t believe they did that! Report them!

I'd speak to them directly - tell them it was a badger sett, explain badgers have become rare in your area since the housing estates were built, and make it clear you need the badger setts to be left alone, and its illegal to disturb them anyway.

I think you should report them to the police. If you had been consulted you would have told them why it was there.

This

To fill in a badger sett, the law require ls you to prove that it has not been used for 28 days (video cameras) and there are only certain times of year this proof is valid )I've alway done it late during late spring I seem to remember , but it's been a few years).

I'm not sure if there are specified circumstances where you can close a sett at all. In my case, I have closed setts (legally, under the guidance of an ecologist with the appropriate Natural England training) as the setts were within a flood embankment, and threatening its integrity - posing a flood risk to several hundred properties.