Update -Is There A Connection Between Bristol Fox Death and Recent Badger Deaths?

 

Apparently my warning post to Frieds of Eastville Park Face Book group will not be published. I have been told that this is because of a number of things:

1.  Bristol City Council has refused to analyse the blue substance found as it is "probably harmless". One wonders why the "fighters for the environment" council always fudges around when poison is mentioned? Also there is protected wildlife in the Park and that includes the badgers a protected species.

2. "We are also trying to establish if the last two badgers found were one and the same or not." Well, I established that the two January badger reports were of the same carcass as no one had reported it to Bristol City Council; I reported it to the head of the team and it was collected. The one from a couple days ago makes three dead badgers.

Having contacted the Animal Plant Health Advisory regarding the substance to see what they advise I can report I got no response.

I have also pointed out that the council collects and incinerates and that in the first instance I should be contacted and any photos taken forwarded to assess whether a post mortem -and exception- can be carried out to find the cause of death. I also highlighted the need for local cooperation.

We have someone locally so should another dead badger turn up then WE will deal with it.

Also, I have been mapping badger locations around the City and this is NOT for publication and never will be. The idea of mapping badger areas, where setts might be located is so that if a badger turns up dead we know where it came from and if a sow during breeding season it helps check for any orphaned cubs.

I have had a number of dead badgers reported and though RTA seems the likeliest cause the problem remains that less obvious victims of car strike are not being reported early enough. The same applies to foxes which people are still leaving too long to report and when we have cats dying from poisoning we need to watch badgers and foxes as well as hedgehogs in those areas.

If a vet tells you that your pet cat was poisoned "possibly with anti-freeze" then that is a crime and the intended victims were probably foxes or badgers (hedgehogs being collateral losses).

REPORT YOUR PETS DEATH TO THE POLICE -YOU MAY SAVE OTHER PETS LIVES.

Bristol City Council has, since November 2021 flatly refused to respond to phone messages and emails regarding use of rodenticides by its contractors as well as tenants on allotments which have raised concerns by other tenants as hedgehogs have died.

Bristol City Council can therefore no longer make its press claims to be championing the environmental issues it clams.

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I am only one person and in a City as big as Bristol we need the people to keep an eye on the environment as well as wildlife. No one was interested in fox deaths and I had to fight for months before post mortems were approved and those are yielding results.

As I have outlined in other posts we are not currently carrying out post mortems on badgers but it may prove necessary.

I posted this on 1st November: Just seen this is messages from this morning: 

"Hello Terry, I’m also a member on the BS16 wildlife group and thought you may be able help. Yesterday morning I spotted (and picked up) what I believe to be a fox poo on Clarence Avenue BS16 filled with a blue substance (colour of rat poison / slug killer). I thought you’d be the person to message as I see you’ve done some investigations of fox distribution over the years and I also have read there have been a lot of suspicious fox deaths lately. I usually don’t post on public pages, but would you recommend I share this in the local FB groups too so people are aware? Thank you, Madeline"

And 2nd Nov:"If you live in BS10 or BS16 please pass the word along. We have no idea what the pellets are but they are obviously being consumed and put out deliberately in an area noted for unusual fox deaths this year. 

I have today contacted South Gloucestershire Council as well as the council environmental department. The lady who reported the blue pelleted scat yesterday was walking along Hermitage Road when she found more (see photo). This now seems to be deliberate baiting and could result in fox, badger or hedgehog death or even the death of a domestic pet.

 Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme as well as the chief pathologist at the University PM Services have now been informed, Unfortunately we have no one that could collect the droppings at the moment to hand over to a lab. If you are out and about and spot more of this please alert everyone on group if you can. Thank you

22 Jan Eastville Park: "Does anyone know what this is? Located at the end of Everest Road entrance to the park. There was a lot more of it. I cannot be sure, but it looks like rat poison. Dog walkers beware."

 

South Glos council had no interest in the blue substance despite the possible implications. I have just posted to Friends of Eastville Park asking whether they submitted the substance for analysis and as what poisoned the recent fox -bromadiolone- comes in blue pellets I asked anyone spotting blue material to have it removed and stored and get it submitted for analysis. Might just be coincidence but they have a group keeping an eye on the park so just sitting on their asses is not good enough. I offered to have an analysis carried out but there was absolute rejection  -"we'll wait to see what Bristol City Council decides" I was told. Bristol City Council refused to do anything so, yes, sitting on asses and evidence and definitely not being "friends" of the Park.

 Last December a badger was found dead near the lake. In January another dead badger was found near the Park entrance pathway. Yesterday (03 02 2022) a third dead badger was found. Natural causes seem likely as badgers are tough and struck by a car will continue on their way until the internal injuries take their toll.

But "Just foxes and badgers" (hmm. Does Bristol City council know badgers are a -when convenient- protected spies?).

Today I had a post mortem report on a Bristol fox found dead at the end of January:

" it is likely that this fox died from exposure to bromadiolone, given the size of this residue and that there were also haemorrhagic findings on post-mortem. The brodifacoum is at a background level only. The source of the bromadiolone is uncertain."

The poison mentioned comes in blue pellet form. The low levels indicate that the fox was probably eating poisoned rats and so there was a build up in poison causing the death NOT deliberate poisoning. Pet cats and foxes do their pest control work at the risk of secondary poisoning. Again, Bristol City Council are adamant that they will not discuss poisons and the affect on wildlife.

If you find blue pellets near wildlife corridors or anything suspicious report it to the RSPCA or police as a potential wildlife crime.