An unfortunate badger who was clearly a traffic victim from his injuries. He was on the verge of the Chester Road last weekend.

This isn’t very pleasant, so I’ll be short and to the point – people, we have a burgeoning badger population at the moment as these guys come in from the fringes of local countryside into town, just as their brothers the foxes have done, and unfortunately they’re dying in large numbers on our roads.

I’ve seen four dead at the roadside around Brownhills in the last fortnight.

Sadly, unlike foxes, badgers are not built for speed, they’re built short, stout and heavy to fight their ground. They also aren’t terribly bright. At nights at the moment, they will be wandering around roads in quite urban areas with lady badgers on their mind, and it’s easy to hit one as they tend to turn and look at approaching vehicles, not run.

There’s not much give in a badger, and they’re a lot bigger than many people imagine. It won’t just be terminal for Brock if you hit him, but it could really damage your motor, too.

Please keep an eye out, and maybe go a tad slower on roads around the commons, fields and woods in the area. I know I joked about this last week, but this is quite serious and I’m seeing a lot of bodies at the moment.

I’m aware there are a number of these animals shot and dumped illegally, but there are no cattle for miles around here, and all the ones I’ve seen had traffic injures. Please take care.

We all love this grumpy, smelly mustelids, but until they evolve some traffic sense, we need to take care.

Cheers.