"Billy" an injured and malnourished adult badger had been found in a hedgehog box in a garden.

Billy 2020

We had a call about a Badger asleep in a hedgehog box in someone`s garden in Tollerton. (14.05.2020)
Once we got the Badger in the cage we noticed that he was very malnourished and had a nasty infected wound on his rump. This had probably been inflicted by another Badger.
We took him home and got him booked in with the vets the next day. They sedated him and cleaned him up. He had several other small wounds on him. He was sent away with antibiotics and pain relief.

We kept him in our recovery unit, he went back to the vets to be cleaned up again a week later, his wound was healing really well, he now weighed 7.1kg. They were very happy with his progress but the vet said he would`nt be ready to be released for another 2 weeks because the wound needed to be healed completely.

We returned him to our recovery unit.
He had several meals every day consisting of dogmeat, cooked potato, eggs, raw vegetables, fruit and the odd treat of a little bit of honey and peanut butter.
He devoured everything that was put in front of him so it was very easy to get the medication into him.
On friday the 5th of June he was ready to be released. When we transferred him into the cage he looked very fat and healthy.
We were unable to release back in the garden where we found him so we released him in the field directly opposite.
We arrived at 2.30 am, as we were carrying him from the car he started to jump about which is a sign that they know where they are.
The release went well and he trotted off into the night.

A video of Billy's release >>

Being examined by the vet under sedation.

A muzzle applied for safety.

The wound on the badger's rump was quite large and open and needed to be cleaned thoroughly.

The badger was carefully monitored on CCTV while in the recovery unit.

The badger was very well fed whilst in the recovery unit. Painkillers and antibiotics were added to his food.

In the transport cage ready for release, wounds fully healed and having gained a lot of weight.

The badger on his way to being released in his home territory after making a good recovery.