Helpston's wildlife

Badgers

The badger grunting on his woodland track

With shaggy hide and sharp nose scrowed with black

Roots in the bushes and the woods and makes

A great huge burrow in the ferns and brakes

So starts John Clare's poem about the badger. It goes on to describe a common enough scene in the nineteenth century, badger baiting and the ultimate killing of the badger by dogs.

Badger baiting has been illegal for many years and badgers are relatively common around Helpston, although sadly they are most often seen lying dead at the side of country roads, particularly in the spring, when the cubs leave the set.

There are badger sets all around Helpston - at the top of Heath Road and in Castor Hanglands and a particularly large and old set near Steeping Wood. In 2005 a new set was established at Swaddywell Pit, demonstrating a healthy and expanding population. In the past badgers have been seen in the village itself, although there have been no reports in recent years.