From the past fall, I’ve consistently noticed new holes in my lawn and claw marks on a beloved tree. I assume a badger is visiting my garden. Will this destruction persist, and how can I handle it? Anna, in Co Wicklow.
In gardens, visits from these nocturnal omnivores are perfectly ordinary. Badgers are sizable, sturdy, and muscular creatures that utilise their heads and robust, pointed claws to unearth ground in their quest for sustenance, leaving behind what are commonly called “snuffle holes”. Their food intake mainly consists of earthworms and chafer grubs, taking up about 80% of their diet. However, they also consume small animals and reptiles like rodents, rabbit, hedgehogs, frogs, and they enjoy bulbs, vegetables, and fruits as well.
Considering when these intrusions first began in your garden, it’s plausible that the badger is primarily after chafer grubs. The larvae of certain chafer beetle species are C-shaped, cream in colour with a dark head, measuring roughly 15mm. Unlike the vine weevil larvae, which they are occasionally mistaken for, chafer grubs can be identified by their distinctive legs.
It’s important to remember that chafer grubs of specific species can positively contribute to our garden ecosystems.
After eggs are laid in the lawn by the mother beetle in the fall, these grubs hatch and burrow deep into the ground. Here, they remain dormant during winter before turning into chafer beetles in the spring. Badgers consider these grubs a delicacy and will take great measures to unearth them from their winter sanctuaries. This often results in significant lawn damage.
On a brighter note, chafer grubs’ natural decrease in population during the late spring as they transform into adult beetles could deter the badger from reoccurring visits. The downside is that chafer grubs can wreck lawns by feasting on grass roots, causing spotty, colour-faded growth and die-back from fall to spring. Although adult beetles can nibble on a range of foliage, their damage is usually much less destructive.
Supernemos, a type of nematode, is the only organic way to manage chafer grubs in lawns. This method is best applied during the late spring or autumn, although effectiveness can vary depending on the temperature – and treating a large lawn can be costly. Bear in mind, certain species of chafer grubs are essential to our garden’s ecosystem. The offensive smell of ample male human urine is often cited as a traditional method of scaring off badgers, but you might decide the remedy to be more troublesome than the problem itself.
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