Culling of badgers

Colin Strang Steel calls for a cull of badgers (Letters, 10 February), thus adding another species to the list of creatures which, like sparrowhawks and other raptors, are on Songbird Survival’s hit-list.

I’ve always been intrigued, though not surprised, by the level of animosity which this organisation displays towards creatures which predate other species simply in order to survive.

To blame badgers for the large decline in hedgehog numbers is questionable to say the least. The two species have shared the same environment for at least 10,000 years, competing with each other for the same food, of which worms form a major constituent. Badgers have the advantage over hedgehogs, since they include the latter in their diet, but it makes no sense to blame them for the countrywide decline in hedgehogs in the current era after such a long history of co-existence.

We need to focus on the real reasons for the drop in hedgehog numbers, which are all related to human activity. They include loss of habitat and fragmentation of habitat; the rise in intensive agriculture; an increased use of pesticides; new housing schemes and roads, which lead to isolation of small hedgehog populations, rendering them more vulnerable to local extinction, and the concomitant increase in vehicles, which are a potent cause of hedgehog mortality.

Mr Strang Steel draws our attention to the inclusion of birds’ eggs and young in a badger’s diet but fails to mention the fact that hedgehogs also eat these items, and will also add mice to their diets – like badgers they’re opportunists.

Of course, the most opportunistic species is homo sapiens, and it’s our rapidly increasing numbers which represent the biggest threat to the natural world.

CAROLYN TAYLOR Wellbank, Broughty Ferry