Avoidance of badger (Meles meles) damage to a small strawberry field

Abstract

An invasion prevention plan against wild badgers (Meles meles) was designed for a field of cultivated strawberries. Badgers climbed nets using their claws and caused damage in the object field in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, in 2003. After the invasions recurred in 2004, the animal was judged to have been a badger. Subsequently, appropriate netting material that corresponded to the badger's invasion behavior was selected and a method of constructing a defense net was devised: a corrugated plate was placed in the ground of the strawberry field. No invasions occurred during the fruiting period in May 2005, suggesting that this net system was an effective countermeasure. The system completely prevented agricultural damage. Defensive measures against damage by meso-carnivores such as badgers include those that protect against digging animals, climbing animals, and scrambling animals. Against the former, the corrugated plate was effective. Against the latter two, slippery netting material was effective.