Sue and I recently assisted the Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital with the release of a badger in Castle Gardens in Leicester. The fully grown boar was picked up near the Corn Exchange/market in the city centre last Tuesday, looking a little worse for wear. After examination, it appeared that he had most likely suffered a slight scrape with a vehicle. After a few days of recovery at the wildlife hospital, he was getting a bit grumpy and restless, so the time came to release him again.

Now here’s the problem — and where we came in. Obviously, putting him back where he was found wasn’t an option, so the nearest sett that we know of, in Castle Gardens, about 500 metres from where he was found, was the only suitable release site. This was going to be a gamble, but where else could he go? Luckily, he was a healthy boar with no sign of territorial fighting, so it was unlikely that he had been pushed out of his clan.

We parked at my workplace, which is close by and conveniently on the other side of the canal. We carried the cage to the park — he was very heavy 😆. The sett is in a quiet, overgrown area just at the bottom of the castle mound, and as we fought our way through the undergrowth, our badger started to get very excited, which was a good sign.

We put the cage down right next to two active entrances to the sett, and as soon as I opened the cage, he jumped straight out. He had a quick sniff into one of the holes but unfortunately didn’t go down. Instead, he disappeared into the bushes, where I think there are possibly more entrances. We quietly left the sett, hoping that he knew where he was.

I would have been happier if he had gone straight down into the sett, but if this is not his home, I’m sure he is in familiar territory and has a good chance of finding his way home. There was no way of re-catching him anyway.

Big thanks to the wildlife hospital for caring for him.

Gary