Badger Snaring Incident, 9 November 2008

Report from Sue Old of the Dorset Badger Group.

Location: Southover near Frampton in corner of field next to footpath.

At around mid-day, badger group members Karen Windsor and Mike Dimmer were walking along the footpath near Throop farm, Southover and discovered a badger lying on top of a mound of mud in the corner of a field right next to the footpath.

It was curled up and appeared lethargic. Its breathing was shallow and it was shivering. They immediately called me out and when we approached the badger it stood up and tried to escape and at this stage we realised that it was caught around the middle by a wire snare.

The wire was attached to something hidden in the middle of the pile of mud. The badger must have been there for at least twelve hours and had churned up a huge pile of mud, trying to escape. We managed to get it into a cage and cut the wire that was holding it. After it had been freed, there was still a tight band of wire around the badger. We managed to get the badger to a vet who cut the wire and examined it for injuries. There was a red ring visible around the badger where the wire had been, but it had not cut into the skin.

I took the badger to Elizabeth James for observation and assessment for a couple of days. We also needed time to search the area for any more snares and to speak to the landowner before we released it back. The snare had been situated opposite the Dorset Wildlife reserve ‘Nunnery Mead’.

The next day an RSPCA Inspector accompanied me and we searched for more snares but could find none in the immediate area. He is currently making enquiries with the landowner about who was responsible. The field immediately to the south of the one where the snare was found had been sold recently to a local shoot.

Also we looked in the area where the snare was situated for any obvious badger ‘runs’. The trapped badger had churned the earth up so much that it was impossible to tell. It is illegal to put a snare on a badger run or near a badger sett.

I asked the RSPCA inspector to examine the remnants of the snare and he said that he thought it was a standard free-running fox snare with a ‘stay’.

The badger seemed exhausted and did not eat until the second day. On
11 November at around 6.30 pm we released it back near the snare site. It sat quietly in the cage for a few seconds and then galloped at great speed towards a nearby wood.

Snaring has not been ruled out as a mean of catching badgers for eventual killing. We in the Dorset Badger group want an end to all the suffering. We want to see the use of ALL snares banned by law. We have information/awareness stands at different events and open days around Dorset.

Snares - wire nooses set to catch wild animals - have been in use for a great many years. Typically they are used as a means of killing foxes or rabbits. The aim is to catch the victims around the neck, so that they die through strangulation or by dislocation of the neck. Some snares however feature a mechanism which stops the noose from closing too tightly. These snares hold their victims alive until the person who set them comes back. The animals are then killed, usually by shooting.

Read more about the widespread use of snaring in Ireland at the Badger Trust website.

Snares are barbaric

In theory the use of free-running snares (The wire is threaded through a simple eyelet at one end. This allows free movement of the wire in both directions), and the daily inspection of those snares required by law, means that snared animals do not suffer.

They either strangle quickly, or hold their victims for a day at most, until the animals are killed humanely by the persons who set the snares. Well, that's the theory. In practice it is all too easy to set a free-running snare in such a way that it will cause tremendous suffering. If a snare is attached to a post (such as a fence post), the captured animal in its efforts to escape will end up wrapping the wire round and round the post until the noose is so tight that it causes serious injury. Snares have also been found positioned on the tops of walls or banks, so that when they catch their victims, the animals fall and suffer death by hanging. Animals caught in snares are open to abuse by other animals, particularly dogs.

Even when a free-running snares is set properly, the wire can easily become kinked or tangled in such a way that the snare acts like a self-locker. A self-locking snare continues to tighten as its victim struggles, but does not relax when the animal stops pulling. This causes the noose to cut through the animal's skin and into its flesh, causing terrible suffering.

A slow death by strangulation - or even near decapitation in some cases - is bad enough. But snares do not only capture animals by the neck. Some animals get their legs caught in snares, and end up with the snare cutting down to the bone. Such animals may attempt to escape by gnawing off their own limbs. Other animals are caught around the body. Both badgers and foxes have been found with snares that have almost cut them in half, the snares around their bodies having tightened to around five centimetres in diameter. Some of these animals were still alive when found.

The daily checking of snares ought to prevent prolonged suffering of those animals which are caught and injured by them. However, there have been many occasions where it is clear that snares have not been checked daily - or even weekly. The discovery of long-dead corpses with snares around their necks, legs or bodies is not uncommon. These animals will have died either as a direct result of their injuries, or by infection of their wounds or even by starvation.

The suffering caused to animals by snares is unimaginable - and wholly unacceptable.

Outlawing self-locking snares alone is not enough
Under the law as it stands, the use of self-locking snares(has a small metal device at one end. The wire will only run one way) is illegal. However, as we have seen, even free-running snares can cause tremendous suffering. This is only part of the problem however.

Even if it was to be accepted that free-running snares do not on the whole cause as much suffering as self-lockers, there remains the difficulty of defining a free-running snare. Dual purpose snares can easily be converted into self lockers. And now there are newer types of snares, which are known to have maimed and killed badgers, cats, sheep, deer and hares, but which seem to defy classification as either free-running or self-locking. Different 'experts' have different opinions, and the result is a legal minefield when any attempt is made to prosecute a case where animals have been caught in these snares.

On the 11th of October the Badger Trust presented an anti-snaring petition at 10 Downing Street bearing 70 000 names to persuade the Government to abandon any plans to apply this cruel practice.

What you can do

Please do your bit to help us end the suffering of badgers and other animals in snares. Here's a list of ideas for action:

If you find a illegal snare:
Take a photograph. If you find illegal self-locking snares set in position, or snares of any description set in such a way that they are likely to catch pets or protected species, please contact the RSPCA or the police Wildlife Crime Officer covering the area.

In the case of snares set on a badger path or near a badger sett, please also contact us. Say exactly where you have found the snares. If possible, arrange to meet with whoever attends to investigate, so that you can show them exactly where the snares are. Please do not trespass in order to look for snares. Also, please do not damage or remove any snares - if you see a snare which you believe to be illegal, render it safe by closing the noose (with a stick for example). If you find a badger caught in a snare:

If you find a live badger caught in a snare:
Please call us or the RSPCA as soon as you can. Any other animals found alive in snares should also be reported to the RSPCA. If possible, arrange to meet with whoever attends so that you can can guide them directly to the injured animal. Please do not attempt to release the animal yourself. The animal may injure you, or it may suffer further injuries itself. It may even escape with the snare still in place, and die a lingering death.

If you find a dead badger in a snare:
Contact us, the RSPCA or the police Wildlife Crime Officer covering the area. Say exactly where you have found the snared animal. If possible, arrange to meet with whoever attends to investigate, so that you can take them to the casualty. Please do not interfere with the victim, leave the body exactly as you found it so that the evidence can be fully recorded.

For more information please read the following files from the Badger Trust:

Alternatives to Snares

Badger Trust Snares Factsheet