Wonderful News, but then.....

I was about to write my Betty Badger BLog and tell you all some amazingly wonderful news but then my Human friend Bob broke my heart with some really tragic news.  My friends at DEFRA have just announced that they have killed 19,274 Badgers this Autumn.  My Brian was one of those...



And we have lost so many more family and friends:

Whose bodies are treated like so much rubbish and dumped on roadsides:

Even though I am still not very well and I should be hibernating, I will go down to DEFRA tomorrow and tell them what I think, before they all go off on their Christmas holidays. 

 My Human friend Bob was telling me about Christmas holidays.  It is a time of year, just after the shortest day, when many Hupeople gather together in town centres, on roads, and at home eating and drinking so much that they get sick.  They also fight a lot and shout at each other, especially when they are stuck in their cars on the roads, and they spend all the money they earned all year.   I think Badgers are much more sensible.  Then again, we have been around on the Earth for much longer that Hupeople so they might gain some wisdom one day.

Once I get over this sadness I will tell you the most wonderful news that will make all my friends very happy indeed.

Night night,

Betty 🐾🐾

Betty Badger is indisposed

Although I would very much like to go on my weekly journey to see my DEFRA friends tomorrow, I have caught a cold and am not very well with a bad cough.  I might risk the freezing weather but the real problem is that if I cough then the Badger Haters at DEFRA will probably catch me with a big net and exterminate accusing me of having BTB. I know that all the Badger Lovers at DEFRA would try to save me but I don't want to take the risk.

So I will stay in my lovely snug sett and get well.  In any case we have had lots of snow down here and we Badgers like to stay at home when it snows.  Here is a view from a field near our sett: 

 
The worst thing about snow is not the cold but the fact that not very nice Humen will sometimes track our paw prints in the snow and hurt us.  I make sure the Cubs stay inside on snowy days.

I am sorry that I won't see Mr Gove tomorrow because I wanted to thank him for promising to introduce an new law that will protect Animals.  I hope that includes Badgers.  Mr Gove always looks lovely and smart and he has a mate, a Huwoman called Sarah Vine who writes for a newspaper called The Daily Mail.  She likes to give her opinions on things, a bit like I do except that she gets paid.  I might send her my blog and see if she is on the side of Badgers.

While sheltering from the snow, I have been musing a little more on Nature's sense of humour.  Last time I wrote I mentioned Peacocks and the Fallow Deer with trees growing out of their heads.  Here is a picture in case you didn't believe me: 

Perhaps even more strange is that Humen shoot the Deer, chop their heads off and hang them on their walls in their nests.  Can you believe that?  

My Human friend Bob also told me about some other strange animals that we don't get in England, except in zoos which are a kind of prison that animals are never released from them.  If they do ever escape they are always shot "for the safety of the public".  You might have heard about  that Lynx that was shot last month in Wales which is not far from here.  The poor Cat only wanted to be free.  Here is a picture of a Lynx:

And then there are Giraffes.  Imagine having such a long neck.  We Badgers don't really have necks...  I suppose they are handy for reaching the tops of trees and also for seeing long distances to see if there are any Bad Humen coming our way. This Giraffe is also dead because some Humen like killing Creatures with their flash bang guns.

The nights are very long now and because the Earth is so hard with the Cold we don't get many worms to eat.  But I am not worried because I have layers of lovely fat that will keep me going over the Cold Months. 

Time for a rest.

Night, Night

Betty🐾🐾

Mischief Afoot and Betty gets wet Paws -again

Despite the late autumn lethargy, Betty Badger is determined to keep Badgers in the public eye, so off I trot every Thursday to DEFRA. Today I decided to enter in to the festive spirit and wore a hat, which my friends a DEFRA liked.  



Here are a few pictures taken by some nice Humen I met.  The last one is what they call a Selfie, which means me trying to take a picture of myself.  It was not very successful...

This next one is a Human from Deliveroo who arrived carrying one piece of paper.  It must have been a very important piece of paper... 

This is my attempt at a selfie.  I think the camera was upside down... or maybe I was.

I got quite worried because a Human with 2 cameras was watching me for hours under his umbrella.  I was worried in case he was collecting evidence against me to stop me coming again, so I was careful to wave nicely and not to poo anywhere.  Not that I would.  I am not like those Hupeople who put bags of poo all over the countryside.  I wonder if they think it is decorative? Or maybe it is a sacrifice to the Gods of the Trees. Perhaps someone will tell me.  Here is a bag of poo I saw recently:

Well,  I got very wet indeed as we  had a downpour and my feet were cold. After a few hours I couldn't stand the tension any longer so I trundled up to the man with the cameras under the umbrella and he told me that he wasn't interested in me, but in Mr. Gove.  I didn't like to tell him that Mr Gove had left a couple of hours earlier, well hidden by a crowd of people, but Mr Gove still took time to talk to say hello and give a wave to Betty.  He hasn't replied to my Huwoman friend Mary's letter yet

The man told me that he thinks Mr Gove is up to shenanigans, whatever they are, over Brexit and wants to get rid of Mrs May.   I am sure he is too nice to do anything like that... This is a picture of the man hiding under his umbrella among the DEFRA bicycles.

Last Thursday it didn't rain but it was very, very cold.  Lots of DEFRA Hupeople envied my fur. One of them offered me a cup of tea but I had to tell them that Badgers don't drink tea.  We do however like worms- lots of worms, but there are no worms in Smith Square, and no birds- not even a Pigeon or a fly.  It is a desert for Creatures.

I have to admit that I had a bit of an argument today.  While most Hupeople agree that Badgers are innocent of spreading disease to Cows, some ignorant Hupeople just don't want to admit that truth. Today a farmer visited DEFRA and shouted at me. He was delivering a display of fruits and vegetables.  They looked delicious but he didn't offer me any.  Anyway, he said that I was responsible for killing hundreds of Cows and I said that Science proves otherwise and that the spread of bTB results from bad testing and poor farming practices.  Well, farmers obviously don't want to be told that they are responsible for killing their own Cows, so he refused to listen to me.  This is a not very good picture of his van and his nice green trousers:

One reason I was very tired a few weeks ago was because of the Fallow Deer.  I want  to tell you something now that you probably won't believe unless you have seen it.  

Well, every autumn the Male Deer grow 2 trees on top of their heads- they call these antlers.  They do look very heavy and I bet they get a headache.  At night all the deer go out into a field and the Female Deer stand around in a circle and the Male Deer run at each other and start crashing their head trees together.  They bang and they crash and we badgers don't get a wink of sleep.  This helps to choose the top Male.  

Of course, we badgers wouldn't waste so much time and energy working out who is Boss Badger.  A fight and a bite or 2 soon sorts it out.  And then the antlers fall off. What a waste of resources- just imagine how much food it takes to grow trees on your head.  Nature does play some jokes sometimes- you just have to look at peacocks to understand that!

It is getting very frosty now and snow is coming so Betty is popping down into her sett, but before I go I want to mention a lovely friend I met last week.  His name is Gary and he cleans the pavements in Smith Square.  He was very cold and I was quite worried about him.  Part of the reason he was cold was because the leaves have fallen off the plane trees so he is not so busy sweeping.   I think he could do with a thick pair of gloves. 

Although I sometimes wonder if I am doing any good spending time at DEFRA every week, I think I am doing a very important thing indeed, because all the serious office workers in their smart clothes and shiny shoes break into a smile and laugh and wave when they see me and I wave at them.  That smile and laughter is good for their hearts and souls and, just for a while, they become children again.  But some of them pretend they don't see me.  I think those ones have a guilty conscience and are probably responsible for killing tens of thousands of my Badger friends  this autumn   I bet they are too ashamed to acknowledge me.

Oh and I met a very smart Human and Huwoman today.  He works for the BBC. He asked me what I was doing.  He didn't know about the Badger Killing.  I hope he does now.

Night night.  Betty 🐾🐾🐾

Betty Badger is Back- Again!

Some of you might have been wondering if Betty Badger had been killed by the Humen with the flash-bang sticks in the  Badger Cull, but I am OK.  Lots of things have stopped me from writing my Badger Log.  The first is the cold weather because we badgers get very sleepy when it is cold and curl up in our setts.  Here is a picture of my three cubs when they have just woken up*

Then there was the Microsoft Monster that killed my Human friend Bob's Computer with their huge Upgrade, which I think is some sort of disease. It has taken one and a half moons to fix it.  A kind man called Shailendra from  Microsoft rang Bob on the Telephone for 4 hours every day for a week and eventually fixed the Computer so Bob is happy now.  But Bob has stopped being so active and is spending ll his time sitting down looking at his Computer claiming to be talking to his friends.  I think it is an odd way to talk to friends with your fingers while staring at a bright light.  When I talk to my Badger friends I like to see them and smell them-especially smell them so I can tell how they are.

Although I have been quiet I have also been busy.  Last Thursday I went back to DEFRA to see my friends.  So many DEFRA Hupeople said how good it was to see me back and one of them said how he admired me for my determination.  I am not sure what "determination" means but I don't think it is anything to do with my looks.  I hope I still have it.

I didn't see Mr Gove on Thursday,probably because he was hiding after he and his friends voted in Parliament to say that Animals, including Badgers I suppose, are not sentient and don't have feelings.  Isn't that silly!?  You all know how worried I was when my cub Byrony was captured by the evil Humans in a cage and how I cried with joy when the kind Badger Lovers saved her.  And you know how sad I have been over the killing of my mate Brian.  And that vote was only a week after Scientists proved that Sheep recognise their friends.  We would be pretty stupid Animals if we couldn't recognise our friends, and I don't think Brian would have been too happy if I had mated with another Badger because I thought it was Brian.  What a strange world that would be.  Although Bob did say that Humen and Huwomen sometimes forget who their mates are.....

It is very cold indeed tonight so I will now curl up in my underground home that is all snug and filled with lovely straw that smells of summer.  I won't leave it so long again before I write my BLog  again.  I want to tell you all about the Deer and the other Animals that I meet at night.

Before I go, Bob is just adding on to the end of my words a letter that his friend Mary wrote to Mr Gove today.  I think she is a Badger Lover too as she seems very angry with him.

Night Night.  Betty Badger  🐾🐾

Mary's Letter:

Dear Mr Gove,

I was extremely disappointed by being dismissed with a superficial and disingenuous reply to my request for an appointment with you to discuss the science of the badger cull. 

I do appreciate that you are busy with the machinations of state and I wasn’t convinced that you would grant my request but I really think that you should get someone else to advise you about the badger cull and to write your letters.

Your letter insulted my intelligence and that of the wider British public.  I know that you have met recently the very knowledgeable representatives of the Badger Trust and that they have shared with you an alternative strategy for dealing with bTB based on a better testing regime.  I have been in communication with some of the country’s leading experts on bTB including Lord Krebs as well as leading badger experts Dr Richard Mayer and Michael Clark all of whom agree that killing badgers will not make any real difference to the incidence of bTB.  Your letter states that “other leading vets” agree with the policy.  Most leading vets do not, nor does the former government advisor Timothy Coulson.  To quote his words on the continuation of the badger cull he describes it as “an abuse” of the scientific process and “wilfully” ignoring the advice of its own scientists.  “In a strongly worded attack, Professor Timothy Coulson, a member of the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) which was tasked by the Government to advise it on pilot culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire, said: "I am tempted to speculate that the Government no longer wants to know whether the pilots are effective or humane."”  I know also that a former senior veterinary expert of DEFRA has stated publicly that the cull cannot work in reducing bTB.

Mr Gove, your government aimed to kill over 33,500 badgers this autumn when there is no scientific justification for that action as part of the strategy for reducing the incidence of bovine TB.   It is clear that bovine TB has increased because of poor farming practices, including moving infected cattle and slurry spreading, and inadequate testing. 

Your letter mentioned the Irish experience.  That is a red herring. The figures, carefully utilised as justification, were based on the time after foot and mouth when bTB figured rocketed.  There is no causal link between the cull and the reduction on bTB in Ireland.  This is evidenced by the fact that bTB numbers also reduced in Norther Ireland where there was no cull.

The badger cull is unscientific, inhumane and shameful.  I know that you are an animal lover and an intelligent man. I simply cannot understand how you can allow this cruel and ineffective policy to continue at enormous  cost to the taxpayer.  

One of your parliamentary colleagues, who will remain nameless, told me that the government cannot end this cull policy because it will risk losing face.  I understand that completely.  But you do have options for a new strategy, as outlined by the Badger Trust, that does not involve a badger cull.  To announce a fresh new strategy would be courageous and publicly popular, particularly bearing in mind the recent scandal about voting against animal sentience.

I would appreciate it if you would consider this matter deeply and rationally.  So that the public, and Betty Badger, might agree that Michael Gove is, in fact, “a nice Human” "

(Picture of 3 Badgers taken from Campaign page of Stop Harlow North, fighting against a development that will damage badger setts).

Betty Badger is Back!

I, Betty Badger, am so sorry to have been silent for so long but the Microsoft Monster


didn't fix Bob's Laptop so I have had a little holiday in the autumn sun while Bob saves up to buy a new Laptop and some Windows and an Office.




 I have no idea why a computer needs Windows and an Office, but perhaps there are little insects living inside the Laptop who need to see out and carry out administration. 

Bob is very grateful to the nice Humen, Mike, Vanessa and Larry, who lent him their laptops during the dark days and late nights of 4 hour telephone conversations with the Microsoft Monster. Although all is far from well on the technology front, I will now get back to reality and start talking to my human friends again.


I did enjoy the autumn harvest of apples.  Some people might say that I enjoyed the harvest a bit too much when I got a bit tipsy on apples that had gone past their best and fermented.   I must admit that I did have a bit of a headache next day...  This is a photo that Bob took of me after eating the lovely apples.....

I have to stop now as I am getting packed to go back to London Town to visit the Defra tomorrow.  Bob told me that the NFU is next door to the Defra so I might visit them too.  The NFU is the National Farmers Union and apparently very powerful indeed.  A bit like the  NRA (National Rifle Association)  in the USA).  Bob told me that the Defra dances to the NFU's tune, which can't be a very nice tune if it caused 33,000 badgers to die this autumn.  That might explain why so many of the people who work in the Defra office were so supportive of me when I visited, waving at me and telling me they were on my side, yet they were told not to talk to me.  I will find out more about this and let you know if Defra is being bullied by the NFU.

Its a funny and worrying old world we Badgers live in...

Night Night,  Betty 🐾🐾

Betty Badger is beaten by Microsoft

Betty Badger is incommunicado for a while because Microsoft killed her Human friend Bob's computer with an Update, whatever one of those is. He is wailing about losing his pictures and his music and his programmes. Betty is sitting with Bob helping to support him through this difficult time.... but would prefer to be outside DEFRA trying to make a difference.  I will be back!

Betty Badger meets David Dimbleby......or is it Richard.... or Jonathan

The excitement of this badger's life continues.  My Human friend Bob was told by his friend  Neill that a TV programme called Question Time was being held in Dun Stable near where Neill lives and he might like to go to talk about what DEFRA is doing to Badgers.  Neill told his Huwoman friend Mary who said she would like to go too.  They asked if I would like to go.  Now I wasn't too keen on the idea at first because I thought he was talking about a TB programme and I certainly don't want to get that or I will definitely be dead.  And I am not sure I wanted to spend an evening with a load of brown Horses in a stable.

Bob explained that it was Dunstable not a stable for Dun Horses and TV was not the same as TV so I said OK

Well, the BBC aims to have a balanced audience so not Bob or Neill were allowed to go because they are white british middle aged heterosexual men ( whatever than means) a group of people who like to go to ask questions on programmes.  But Mary who is a Huwoman is underrepresented on these TV shows so she was allowed to go.  Mary hid me and Bryony in her bag and drove us to Dunstable. Here we are in the bag:

It was quite boring until Mr Dimbleby stood on a chair and told all 150 of us that the TV programme likes to have arguments and shouting.  He said that the programme would be boring if we agreed with each other.  This is David Dimbleby.... or is is Richard, or is it Jonathan.  I wasn't really sure but then Mary told me that Richard likes Wildlife not Questions and only this week had said that the Badger Cull should stop.  I don't think David is too interested in Animals.



All the Hupeople had to think of a question they would like to ask on the programme; it had to be 20 words or less.  Mary asked 2 questions about killing badgers. One was "Why are badgers being shot Tonight when most experts agree that the cull is unscientific, cruel, expensive and cannot work."  

Her other question said something like, "Government says that Austerity is our solution. How can we afford to slaughter 33,500 Badgers as a cost of £7,000 each.  That's Millions!"

The lady who took her question papers had not heard of The Badger Cull and wrote down that Badgers were being killed while the programme was going on.  She wrote down the number 33,500 on her piece of paper to be sure not to forget it.  So Mary thought she would get her question asked.

After hours and hours we were let into the theatre and there were lots of lights and Hupeople with things called cameras and microphones.  There were all sorts of Hupeople around us: Humen, Huwomen, old and young, pink and brown and a person with purple hair who said she was a Trans, which is not the same as a tram that I saw in Man Chester.  Mary was very excited to ask about killing Badgers on the TV so that Millions of Hupeople would learn about The Cull.  Even a not very bright Badger like me might have guessed that Badgers are not as important as Brexit.  Animals, even killing them, are not "Topical".  Instead there were questions about spanking, Universal Credit, Iphones, fat people not being allowed operations and fly-tipping.  Actually, fly-tipping is quite important because sometimes Badgers get injured by it.  The theatre was purple to match the Hutrans hair:



Mary was very sad that she should not get the world to know about the killing and she is not sure what to do next to save her Badger friends. 

Still, the people on the stage were very clever and inlcuded a man called The Reverend Richard Coles who is a Dancing Priest who seemed very kind and I am sure he would not hurt Badgers.  I wasn't so sure about Chris Grayling  who seemed quite uncomfortable especially when Hupeople argued about Universal Credit, which seems to be about starving poor Hupeople and making them lose their nests, although I am not really sure.  I enjoyed the car journey home and Mary bought us some redskin peanuts in the 24 Tesco .  We had a feast when we got back.

I didn't say much about my second trip to DEFRA.   You might have guessed that I was a bit miserable and very wet when I got back.  It wasn't as exciting as TV but I did meet some interesting people.  I met some friendly Humen who, like Badgers, enjoy digging holes.  They wanted their pictures taken.

I also met some very strange trees:

And I saw the Tate Gallery. 

I am not sure about galleries because I heard that they sometimes put Animals like Sheep and Cows in water in plastic boxes and come and stare at them.  I definitely don't want that to happen to me.

  

I don't think I will ever understand Hupeople.

Night night  from Betty Badger  🐾 

Mr Gove Talks to Betty

I went to DEFRA again today but it was a dreadfully rainy my fur got soaked. I can't get my paws warm and my back hurts from standing on my hind paws for hours. BUT>>> 






.....it was worth it because Mr Gove came out of his office and said "Hello".  That is real progress.  At this rate we will be friends soon.






I have to go in my sett and get warm now.  I am not sure that I will get much sleep as the Humen with flash-bang guns are very busy ..


Night night  🐾

Betty meets Mr. Gove- at last

What an amazing day.  I went to see The DEFRA.  It is near a big River called the Thames .  Badgers are good swimmers but the River was very brown so I thought it might be dirty.  Here is a picture of a map which is supposed to help you find your way..  I got lost:

In fact The DEFRA is a building full of Humen and Huwomen and most of them don't wear blue suits.  Some do and they pretended that they didn't see me.  This is DEFRA and this is me outside DEFRA:

The Humen and huwomen without suits who live at DEFRA are mostly much more friendly than the ones at Downing Street.  Most of them waved at me. The security Humen were a bit worried about me, probably because they had never seen a Badger before and they asked if I had a petition to hand in.  I didn't know what one of those was and I said that I just wanted to stand for a few hours and meet the DEFRA Humans.  He didn't know what to do with a solitary Badger so told me to not get in the way of Hupeople and showed me the camera that would be watching me.  This is the camera I stood under:

I hope they didn't watch me eat my lunch because I can be a bit of a messy eater, as those worms do wriggle quite a lot.

I soon discovered what a petition was as some nice Hupeople with pictures of very strange animals came to hand in a petition.  This was asking for Primates (like hairy Humen) not to be kept as pets.  I have to agree with them; Badgers wouldn't like to  be pets nor would Hupeople as we all want to be free to wander around and do our things.  

I then met two lovely people from a place called Birmingham which is nearly as far as Man Chester.  They want to stop animals being skinned and worn as fur by the Hupeople.  I haven't seen any naked Hupeople yet so I guess they have enough clothes already.  DEFRA must be a very powerful  building if it can make such important decisions on Primates and fur and on killing Badgers.

And then it happened.  Mr Gove appeared.  As my friends know, I have been waiting for an appointment with Mr Gove for months but he is a very busy Human and I am still waiting.  But here he was today, bouncing up the steps to DEFRA... and he waved at me!!!  I did ask if I could have a photo taken with him but he dashed off.  So I have to borrow a picture.  I think he will like this picture- he does look a bit strange in some of the other ones:

He looks very kind here so I hope that he will see me and change his mind about killing Badgers.  Apparently he made a speech last week about being kind to Elephants which live in hot places like Africa and India.  If he is kind to animals then he will probably stop the killing of 33,500 of my Badger friends this Autumn.  If I do get to see him properly and talk to him I will tell him how my Husband Badger Brian was shot by his people leaving me with my three cubs Benjamin, Bryony and Boniface to look after on my own.  We are all heartbroken.  We miss Brian Badger so much.

I am not sure that DEFRA is a good place to live.  Lots of Hupeople there gave me the "thumbs  up" and I had a couple of Hi5s but not many would talk to me.  A few said that they agreed that I was innocent and told me to keep up the good work, but most of them looked a bit worried when they waved at me.  Two lovely Humen offered me cake! Then one of them said that they had been told not to talk to me and they were probably worried that they might get into trouble withe the DEFRA Big Humen in blue suits.  I could tell that some of them were quite stressed because they popped out and ate smoke or fog from a little tube to cheer themselves up.

DEFRA is in Smith Square where there is a Church that sells food and plays music.  A fan called Tom left me a comment on my BLog the other day about the Great Cosmic Badger who will look after me.  I wonder if HE or SHE was in the Church today looking after me?

I had such a lovely time today that I will probably go back tomorrow to see some of the new friends I made.  A Huwoman and a Human recognised me from Downing Street so Betty Badger is getting quite famous.  That would be nice, if it stops DEFRA hurting us.

I so hope that Mr Gove talks to me tomorrow.  

Night night 🐾