Badger Surveys
What Are Badger Survey?
Badgers and their setts are protected under UK legislation, meaning it is an offence to damage, destroy or obstruct a sett, or to disturb badgers while they are occupying one. As a result, development, groundworks and land management activities can require badger surveys to identify any setts present and to ensure that works are carried out lawfully. Early survey work helps identify potential constraints and allows appropriate mitigation to be planned, reducing the risk of delays once works are underway.
Badger Surveys & Impact Assessment
Initial badger surveys focus on identifying badger activity on and around a site. Whitcher Wildlife Ltd surveys look to locate and categorise any badger setts present and record wider signs of badger activity, including paths, dung pits, latrines and foraging evidence. This information allows us to understand how badgers are using a site and to assess the potential impacts of any proposed works.
Where a more detailed understanding of badger use is required, extended badger surveys can be undertaken. These surveys cover a wider area surrounding the site to help identify neighbouring clans, assumed territorial boundaries and the relationship between setts. Where necessary, this can be supplemented by a bait-marking survey, which uses coloured pellets to accurately confirm clan territories and boundary locations.
Badger Protection & Mitigation
The findings of our badger surveys are presented in a clear and comprehensive report, which sets out survey results, assesses potential impacts of the proposed works and provides proportionate recommendations to allow projects to progress lawfully.
Where surveys identify that badger exclusion or artificial sett construction is required, Whitcher Wildlife Ltd has extensive experience delivering both. We hold a large stock of specialist equipment for exclusion works, including one-way exclusion gates, electric fencing and materials for reinforcing setts during the exclusion process. Our team also uses a tried-and-tested artificial badger sett design that can typically be constructed in a single day by two ecologists. The design is flexible, compact and discreet, allowing it to be tailored to suit individual site constraints while providing suitable long-term replacement habitat for badgers.
Why Choose Whitcher Wildlife for Badger Surveys?
Whitcher Wildlife Ltd has extensive experience across all aspects of badger survey, mitigation and exclusion work. Founded in 1998 as a dedicated badger and water vole consultancy, badgers have always been at the core of our work and remain a key area of specialist expertise. This long-standing focus has helped establish Whitcher Wildlife Ltd as a nationally recognised consultancy for badger-related projects. We have successfully delivered licenced badger works across the UK, and members of our team are registered to undertake exclusion works in England under the Natural England Badger Class Licence (CL35).
Our surveyors are experienced in carrying out badger surveys throughout the year and understand how seasonal conditions influence survey effectiveness. While surveys can be undertaken at any time, we provide clear advice on optimal timing, with autumn and winter often offering improved visibility and more accurate results due to reduced vegetation cover. This pragmatic approach ensures surveys are robust, proportionate and tailored to each site.