Bad Day for Badger

by Sarah Hawkins

  “That’s Hugo and Betty, the dominant boar and sow.” Jonathan whispered so quietly that Lewis could only just hear him. “They’re always the first to appear. They’ll check there’s no danger, and it’s OK for everyone to come out.”

  Hugo stretched and gave a huge yawn. Lewis tried hard not to laugh. The old badger looked just like he felt when he woke up to go to school! Then Hugo started rooting in the earth.

  Another badger appeared and went straight over to the peanuts. “That’s Barney,” Jonathan told them. “He’s a bit of a greedy guts, and he always goes straight for the food.” Barney ate for ages, his nose snuffling in the pile of peanuts.

  Everyone sat silently. Lewis glanced at his family. Dad and Granddad were grinning in amazement. Lewis knew how they felt – he couldn’t believe they were seeing the badgers right outside their home. But Lewis couldn’t help feeling worried too. Where was Bramble? These were all too big. What if this wasn’t her sett at all?

  His eyes scanned the other holes. Maybe she’d come out of one of those instead.

  “Badgers can see in the dark, but their sense of smell is even better. They follow their noses around the sett,” Jonathan whispered.

  Another nose was poking out of the hole. Lewis sat forward, hardly daring to breathe. A smaller badger came out of the hole. She had beady black eyes, white tufty ears and a slight limp. It was Bramble!

  Lewis watched in delight as Bramble came out of the hole, followed by a couple of other young badgers the same size as her. They must be her brothers and sisters!

  “There she is!” Jonathan whispered. “And there are her litter mates, Heather and Humphrey. They’re all about four months old.”

  As Jonathan spoke, Lewis couldn’t take his eyes off Bramble. She nuzzled her nose into the earth, then Lewis saw her mouth moving as she happily chomped on something. Her tail looked even fluffier than before, and her coat was shiny and healthy. She seemed completely at home. Lewis would have loved to have had her as a pet, but looking at her now, with her brother and sister, he knew that this was her home.

  Lewis sat back and relaxed as he watched the badgers’ antics. He was happy to watch them now that he’d seen Bramble and knew she was safe and sound.

  Dad carefully poured the hot chocolate out of the flask and handed Lewis some. He cupped his hands around the warm mug, which felt nice against his cold fingers.

  As he sipped the hot chocolate, Hugo started hopping backwards, raking up leaves and grass with his front paws.

  “What’s he doing?” Lewis whispered to Jonathan as quietly as he could.

  “He’s collecting extra bedding,” Jonathan explained. “It’s a cold night tonight, so he’s making sure he’s got an extra leafy blanket!”

  Lewis slurped his hot chocolate and thought about his warm bed at home. It was so funny to think that badgers needed blankets, just like he did!

  Lewis, Granddad, Dad and Jonathan watched as the badgers snuffled around. After a while, Lewis found it easy to tell the badgers apart. Each of them had different personalities, just like Lewis and his friends at school.

  Barney tried to eat everyone else’s food, and Hugo told him off with a grumbly growl. Heather liked galloping after her brother and sister, racing and chasing them in circles, making an excited chirping noise, just like she was playing chase!

  Humphrey was one of the funniest. He wriggled his bum against the grass, then scratched his face with his back legs, before plonking back down on his bum.

  Then suddenly all the badgers looked up. Hugo started sniffing the air, then made a sharp noise.

  “Uh-oh,” Jonathan said under his breath. “I think the wind’s changed direction. They’ve smelt us.” All the badgers sniffed the air and race over to the nearest hole, disappearing back into their sett. All except one. Bramble stood up on her back paws, sniffing the air. Then she turned and looked right at Lewis!

  Lewis couldn’t breathe as Bramble snuffled closer, sniffing the air.

  Next to him, he heard Jonathan gasp as Bramble trotted over to them. Lewis dug into his pocket for the pieces of apple Mum had given him. As gently as he could he tossed the apple over to Bramble.

  “Hi, Bramble,” he said, as the badger crept closer. “Do you remember me? I remember you!”

  The little badger cautiously reached out and nibbled the apple.

  Bramble munched up the apple, then looked at Lewis and wriggled her nose. He knew she was saying thank you.

  “Goodbye, Bramble,” Lewis whispered as she turned and trotted back to the burrow. He’d never forget her, but he knew this was where she belonged.

  “That was amazing!” Jonathan gasped as Bramble disappeared into the sett. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”

  “She remembered me, didn’t she, Dad?” Lewis turned to where his dad and Granddad were watching with open mouths.

  “She certainly did.” Dad shook his head. “That was incredible.”

  As the badgers disappeared underground, all the other watchers crowded around Lewis in amazement. They walked back towards the cars chattering excitedly about what they’d just seen. It was completely dark now, but the torchlight bobbed along happily.

  “Wasn’t it funny when Humphrey scratched his bottom!” one lady said.

  “I couldn’t believe it when your badger came right up to your grandson,” another lady exclaimed to Granddad as they crunched through the leaves.

  “He’s got a way with animals,” Granddad said proudly. “That boy needs a pet!”

  “I think you might be right,” Dad agreed.

  “What?” Lewis spun round so quickly that he almost fell over. “What did you say?”

  Dad put his arm around his shoulders as they walked out into the car park. In the yellowy light of the lamp posts, Lewis looked at his dad’s face to see if he was serious.

  “You and Bramble had a real connection – anyone can see that,” Dad continued. “She’s a wild creature, but there are other animals you could have, as a pet.”

  Lewis couldn’t believe his ears. “You mean like Pip?” he said, immediately thinking about the little dog he’d met at the Rescue Centre. He’d been like the badger, with an injured leg.

  “If you promise to look after him, feed him every day and take him for walks…” Dad trailed off.

  Lewis looked from Dad to Granddad, who was grinning from ear to ear.

  “I will!” Lewis almost yelled in excitement.

  “Then yes, if Mum thinks it’s OK, I think we can get Pip, if he’s the one you want.” Dad smiled.

  “He is!” Lewis grinned. He knew Mum would say yes, she loved animals as much as he did. “Wait until you see him, Granddad, he’s perfect! He’s got little floppy ears and he’s black and white and brown all over. I think he’s a mongrel, but that doesn’t matter.”

  “We’ll call the RSPCA first thing tomorrow.” Dad grinned.

  “YES!” Lewis yelled in delight. Then he hugged Dad again. “Thank you,” he said into Dad’s shoulder. “Thank you so much.”

  “There’s one condition,” Dad said seriously, pushing Lewis away and looking into his eyes.

  Lewis’s heart started beating fast. What was Dad going to say? Was he going to ruin this somehow? Lewis felt his heart sink, but he nodded his head. He’d do anything to have Pip.

  “That you let me come and walk him with you,” Dad grinned. “Father-son time. And maybe Father-son-Granddad time, if we go out with Granddad and Alfie, too.”

  Lewis let out a deep breath. “Deal!” he grinned, then hugged Dad all over again.

  Dad patted his back. “You’re welcome. I love you, Lewis, I hope you know that.”

  “You too, Dad.” Lewis squeezed him again. He glanced up to see Granddad nodding happily. He couldn’t believe it. Bramble had helped him get a dog of his very own!

  Lewis looked out in
to the audience as he sang in the harvest play. He couldn’t believe how much had happened in the last few weeks. He’d seen Bramble at the RSPCA centre, then gone badger watching … and she’d helped him get Pip!

  Luckily, Pip had still been at the animal centre when they’d called. A lady from the RSPCA had come round and checked they could give Pip a good home, then they’d adopted him. Lewis still couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to have a dog of his own.

  Lewis searched the audience, and grinned when he spotted Mum. She was sat next to Granddad, with a big smile on her face and tears rolling down her cheeks. Lewis rolled his eyes at her as he sang and made her laugh. Granddad gave him a thumbs up. Maddy’s mum and big brother were there, too, although Lewis was pretty certain that Stephen had his earphones in.

  But where was Dad? Lewis felt a surge of disappointment. Dad had missed lots of school events before, because he’d been working, but Lewis had thought things were different now. They’d been doing so many father-son things recently … Lewis had just hoped that he’d be there.

  As the song finished the audience burst into applause and Lewis and the rest of his class gave a bow.

  Lewis hurried down from the stage and went to meet his family. “Mum! Gerroff!” Lewis cried as she smothered him in a huge hug.

  Just then he heard a familiar bark. Pip! He looked up and saw Dad standing with Pip and Alfie at the very back of the hall. Lewis ran over to them and bent down to stroke Pip, who jumped up and licked his face excitedly.

  “Good boy,” Lewis laughed. He stroked Pip’s velvety ears and grinned.

  “I snuck in at the back so Pip and Alfie could watch too,” Dad smiled, his blue eyes twinkling. “They thought you were brilliant.”

  Woof! Pip agreed.

  “You came!” Lewis smiled at Dad.

  “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Dad gave him a hug. Pip jumped around their feet excitedly, tangling them up in his lead. “Come on,” Dad laughed, leading them over to where Mum and Granddad were waiting. “We’ve just got time to take these two for a walk before the badger watching tonight.”

  Lewis nodded. He was so excited about seeing Bramble again. He’d bought some peanuts for her out of his own pocket money, to say a special thank you to her for helping him get Pip. As Lewis thought about the little badger he felt a thrill of happiness. He’d rescued Bramble, but she’d rescued him and Dad, too.

  The Real-Life Rescue

  Although the characters and animals in Lewis’s story are fictional, they are based on a real-life rescue in which an injured badger got stuck under a van.

  RSPCA Inspector Steve Wickham was called after a young female badger was spotted by a member of the public, who feared she had fallen from the cliff above and broken her leg. But by the time Inspector Wickham arrived, the badger had crawled under a van and hidden beneath the wheel suspension.

  Inspector Wickham said: “She was looking for somewhere to hide, and as badgers are nocturnal, I suppose she picked underneath the van as a hiding place because it was dark. If we hadn’t spotted her, she could potentially have been stuck there as the van drove off. As it was, she was well and truly caught in the mechanics of the car, and no amount of coaxing was going to get this girl away from her cubby hole.”

  Eventually, Inspector Wickham was forced to call in the help of East Sussex Fire and Rescue, who lifted up the van and freed the badger.

  She was checked by a vet and found to be healthy, and so was returned to the wild.

  A poorly baby badger and an adult badger receive treatment at an RSPCA centre

  Facts About Badgers

  Adult male badgers are called “boars”.

  Adult female badgers are called “sows”.

  Baby badgers are called “cubs”.

  Badgers live below ground in deep burrows known as “setts”.

  They are mostly nocturnal (active at night).

  Most badgers in Britain live in groups of between five and twelve.

  Badgers feed mainly on earthworms, but they will also eat insects, rodents, rabbits, cereals, fruits and bulbs.

  They can climb fairly well up tree trunks, and can even swim!

  Most cubs are born in early February. They stay below ground for eight to ten weeks, venturing out of their sett from late April.

  “Hey, wait for me!” called Sarah, pedalling her bike fast to catch up with her dad and big sister, Zoe. It was a beautiful spring day and Sarah had been distracted by the young lambs in the fields and the flowers on the verges. Bright sunlight streamed through the trees, making her blink as she approached the others. They had stopped by a gate and Dad was leaning against it, pretending to be asleep.

  “I wasn’t that slow,” said Sarah as she pulled up. She exchanged a glance with Zoe and both girls reached out to tickle Dad, who opened his eyes and held up his hands in protest.

  “Argh, not the four-armed Tickle Monster! Nooooo!” He rode away quickly, with the girls in hot pursuit, laughing. It was their first family bike ride of the year and it felt fantastic to be cycling along the country lanes near their home. Sarah loved her new red bike, with its sparkly mudguards, shiny silver bell and streamers on the handles – a special present from her family for her ninth birthday. Riding it felt like flying!

  Both Sarah and her sister enjoyed doing sporting activities with Dad, who always made every expedition fun. Mum was a bit wobbly on a bike, so was happy to have some quiet time at home, where she would be tucked away in her office, writing the next chapter of her new crime novel.

  Sarah noticed that Dad was waving his arm up and down ahead. It meant something was coming, so she and Zoe kept to the side of the lane and rode slowly. Very soon, they heard a strange noise that seemed to be getting louder. Suddenly, around a corner, they spied the reason. It was a flock of sheep approaching!

  Baaaa, bleated the animals as a farmer moved them along the lane with the help of his two collie dogs. Dad and the girls pulled over on to a grass verge to let the sheep pass. Sarah tried to count them as they went by, but got in a muddle after fifty as they trotted past in a blur of wool.

  “Thank you!” said the farmer, giving them a cheery wave as he passed. Sarah watched him open a gate and shepherd the sheep into the field, with the dogs rounding up any that wanted to stay munching grass on the verge. In a matter of minutes, the sheep were safely on their new grazing ground, and the farmer was leaning on the gate, watching them, with the dogs at his side. Sarah took a picture of the flock on her phone.

  “Come on, daydreamer!” called Dad, who had set off on his bike again, with Zoe close behind.

  “I’m taking photos for my art project,” Sarah called back, hurrying to join her dad and sister. Sarah’s teacher, Miss Tate, had asked everyone to take five pictures of spring scenes. The best ones would go up on the noticeboard in the corridor, and Sarah, who loved art, really hoped one of hers would be chosen.

  “You’ve given me an idea,” said Dad, as Sarah caught them up. “I think this ride should be more educational.”

  Zoe and Sarah groaned.

  “What happened to Sundays being fun days, Dad?” asked Zoe.

  “Don’t worry,” said Dad. “I just wondered if you’d both like to make a little cross-country detour. We could follow the cycle track through the woods. See things we wouldn’t spot otherwise.”

  Sarah was excited. It would give her the chance to test out her bike’s gears over bumpy ground.

  “Yes, please,” she replied enthusiastically.

  Zoe was already setting off and beckoned for Sarah to follow. “Come on, sis,” she said. “Let’s set the pace.”

  “Watch out for tree roots,” Dad called after them.

  Just up ahead, a post with a bicycle symbol on it pointed left into the woods. Zoe took the lead, and Sarah followed close behind.

/>   The cycle path curved between trees, rose steeply over banks covered with plants, and dropped away towards a small stream. Twigs snapped under their tyres as they rode, and rooks cawed from the tops of tall ash trees as they passed, surprised by the visitors.

  Sarah’s teeth chattered together as she cycled after Zoe. Her bike’s gears made light work of the uneven ground and Sarah found she was easily able to keep up with her older sister.

  Soon they reached a small wooden bridge, and Dad suggested they do a challenge.

  “Each of us could make a small boat out of sticks. We’ll put them in the stream, and the first boat to sail under the bridge and appear on the other side will be the winner. We could set a time limit of five minutes. What do you think?” asked Dad.

  Sarah thought this would be fun. Zoe, who preferred computer challenges, pulled a face. Both girls dismounted, leaned the bikes against a tree and went in search of sticks. Sarah quickly made a thin twig-boat with a leaf sail. Zoe fashioned a mini canoe out of a branch by peeling back the bark to create pointed ends. Dad made a small, flat raft, held together with reeds that he tied in an artistic knot. When each boat was ready, Dad and the girls crouched by the edge of the stream, holding them above the shallow water.

  “Ready?” said Dad. “Get set. Go!”

  The boats dropped into the stream, which was moving slowly, bubbling and babbling over stones. Dad’s raft sank immediately and he put his head in his hands in pretend shame. Zoe’s canoe was heading for the bridge, carried by the gentle current. Sarah’s boat grounded for a moment on a reed, then seemed to spin round and sail backwards, catching up with the canoe.