Badger that came in through the cat f lap and raided the fridge for a Bakewell tart
IT WAS dark and Geoff Taylor was sleeping peacefully when he was woken by suspicious noises coming from his kitchen.
Creeping downstairs, he came face to snout with the intruder – not a night-time burglar but a badger.
The creature had opened his fridge with its paws and was munching its way through a six-pack of eggs it had pulled from a shelf, shells and all.
It immediately scampered off the way it had got in, through the cat flap, leaving a bemused Mr Taylor to clean up and return to bed at home in Midhurst, West Sussex.
But the next night at 3.30am the same thing happened again – and this time Mr Taylor, 63, had his camera with him.
After hearing noises, he entered the kitchen to find his black-and-white nemesis with its nose buried in a tasty Bakewell tart, also plucked from the fridge.
Even after the kitchen light went on, it took the peckish badger some seconds to realise it had been spotted. It then shot through the cat flap again. Moments later, however, it tried to return – only to find that Mr Taylor had locked the flap.
Mr Taylor’s niece Emma Barrow, 35, who shared the video on social media, said: ‘People often think badgers are timid creatures that you only see in the garden at night, so it was a shock to see one coming so boldly into a house, especially on two occasions.
‘But we hoped this footage would show people that badgers are real characters and they can be very bold and cheeky when they get hungry.
‘The badger was unfazed by the lights or the house itself, however it shows they are still scared of people – he ran off pretty quickly when he was interrupted.
‘We should treat badgers with caution and respect as they can bite if cornered, but they are a protected species so we should look out for them.’