California groundhogs

[Guest Haggler]

U.K. Patt finds work in America. Jeff and I had tried for some badgers on a friend’s sheep ranch in N. California last spring but had been unsuccessful in bottling any up. Today we made another run up the valley and covered several hundred acres of rolling grassy hills before we found where the badgers were hunting. The 4-Runner was setup with the Patts in the back and the tools on top.

 

 

 

We came upon this freshly dug set and entered Jeff’s Patterdale Coby. In less than a minute he turned on and Jeff, his son Eric and I began digging like our asses were on fire and our heads were catching as we weren’t about to let the critter put up too much dirt between itself and Coby.

 

 

 

At a little over three feet we broke in just behind Coby and he was tugging so we knew he had one end or the other. Turned out to be the back end so we dropped a post hole down on the badger’s head and popped it with the 38.

 

 

After pulling the dog and quarry we dropped Finn in and he continued to dig around and sound off now and then. Eric said he heard another badger digging. We cleaned out for the dogs and got them close enough to where they were all fired up again and this time Finn had one by the backside. Another post hole dropped closer to four feet down this time and we popped the second one. The rancher tells us there are plenty more where those came from and he would like more removed when we had time.

 

 

 

 

Haggler

[Dawn B 212]

Super pics! Look at the claws on those things!

Dawn.

[mick 7]

Great pictures

Is that the average size of badgers out there ?

[pickaxe 23]

great stuff, when i've read about people trying to dig to them they always say they digg away to fast for man and dog to get , really great to see you have the patts to do the job

[Squirrel_Basher 17,102]

Looks like hot work mate ,good going you lucky buggers.

[PBurns 9]

Excellent day in the field! You guys are some fun lunatics. Since badger are normally solitary, these two might have been "geting in to get it on". Was it a young male and a female? Quite a spoil pile kicked up there and lovely soil too

 

Patrick

[Guest jrearthdog1]

great stuff, when i've read about people trying to dig to them they always say they digg away to fast for man and dog to get , really great to see you have the patts to do the job

 

pickaxe

that story was started in the us because the guys on terrier central that where trying to dig badger where digging in sandy areas and they said the badgers where all most swimming away to fast for them or the dogs to get to , where i was in canada the soil was good and i had no problem digging to them i know off a guy called jeff in the us that has dug them with a female from the same litter as the male jr that i have

Ian

[Guest Haggler]

These were two young females. The dens were numerous and wide open and the pasture grass was knocked down where they were roaming at night digging up what looked like gophers and ground squirrles. The rancher's son shot a 45 pound male off a den last spring that he is having mounted. I don't know for sure but these may be the first two badger taken with Patterdales in the state? We'll be going back as the ranch and surrounding ground they rent to run their sheep and cattle on covers over 7,000 acres. I'm sure there will be bigger fish to fry but the dogs did the job and we had a nice day of it. Stopped by and helped, very little, with the sheep shearing that they were doing yesterday too. I'll take digging any day to shearing, looked like back breaking work and for $3 a sheep, no way.

 

 

 

 

Haggler

[Danny-Macca 0]

nice read and good pictures to go with it

 

well in mate

[overnunder 0]

spot on

[diggory 130]

great thread lads,really interesting,would a strong pat kill one of the badgers ??????????

[Guest Haggler]

great thread lads,really interesting,would a strong pat kill one of the badgers ??????????

 

These only went about 16-18 pounds, I'm sure the Patts we had would have killed them in open ground. Their kin folk are around there somewhere and they can reach over 40 pounds and would be a different story for sure.

 

Haggler

[J Darcy 5,871]

Good stuff Haggler. Did you put up the sheep photos just to tease some of the members on here?

some of the welsh members...

[pickaxe 23]

J.Darcy is it true about you hunting in Yorkshire, you and a farmer came a cross a sheep with its head stuck in a fence , so the farmer droped his trousers and gave the sheep one , he then asked you if you wanted a go, next thing he knew you where on all 4's with your head in that fence

[Guest chilli]