Home   Stamford   News   Article

Subscribe Now

Nassington Cricket Club tried using tiger poo from Hamerton Zoo to stop badgers digging up the outfield




A cricket club groundsman became so sick of badgers digging up his outfield he resorted to spreading TIGER POO around the pitch.

Bill Taylor, of Nassington Cricket Club, had heard the irksome creatures - Britain’s largest carnivore - were wise enough to steer clear of big cat droppings for fear of bumping into one of the predators.

So he contacted Hamerton Zoo Park in Huntingdon who agreed to supply a sack of tiger dung free of charge as long as he came to pick it up.

Bill Taylor, of Nassington Cricket Club, points out the damage caused by badgers
Bill Taylor, of Nassington Cricket Club, points out the damage caused by badgers

Happy to oblige, Bill drove over to collect the whiffy bag of badger deterrent before spreading it liberally around the pitch boundary.

“I’m sorry to say it did no good whatsoever,” he said. “They completely ignored it and just carried on digging up our pitch!

“The advice I’d heard was to spread lion poo around as they become afraid that there’s a larger, stronger predator out there. Hamerton don’t have lions but I thought tiger poo would be just as effective. Apparently not!

“It really stinks - I nearly threw up spreading it around, it’s that bad!”

He added: “The only other suggestion I’ve had is that they don’t like male urine but I’m limited in the amount of times I can come up here and pee around the edge of the fields!

“If anyone has any magic advice about how to keep badgers at bay I would love to hear from them. At the end of the day they are just doing what badgers do, and I can’t blame them for that, but I just wish they’d do it somewhere else!”

A tiger
A tiger

Bill, who is the club manager as well as the groundsman, took the Mercury on a tour of the pitch on Wednesday (February 26) to show the damage the badgers have been causing.

The outfield is riddled with dozens of holes where the animals have been digging for bugs, worms and even moles since November.

Bill, who started playing at the club in 1978, said a lack of frosts this winter meant they have continued to hunt rather than go into hibernation.

“I’m losing the will to live,” he said, pointing out yet another badger-made divot. “They make such a mess.

“I’ll need to get it all flattened and reseeded before April when we start playing cricket again, which won’t be an easy task. The only saving grace is we don’t have any moles as the badgers seem to be eating them too.”

He pointed out one badger set just yards from the pitch and said others were known to be in the surrounding fields.

A badger set next to Nassington Cricket Club
A badger set next to Nassington Cricket Club

“The problem is you can’t do anything with them,” said Bill. “They’re protected so you can’t capture them and take them somewhere else, and you can’t poison or shoot them either. This is one of the reasons the hedgehog population has dropped so much.

“They’re vicious and powerful creatures. A farmer near King’s Cliffe has even claimed they’ve been taking his new-born lambs. I think it’s ridiculous they are protected to be honest and it wouldn’t be a bad thing if they decided to do a cull in this area.”

The badger-related pitch vandalism comes at a testing time for the club, which is trying to raise money for a new pavilion roof.

European badger
European badger

Storms and high winds have caused a lot of damage, and recently smashed one of the club’s sight-screens.

“It’s been my winter of discontent,” said Bill, a former English teacher.

To help the club with its roof, visit the JustGiving page here

Click here to read more of the latest news



Comments | 0
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More