Family and self camping in Oxfordshire some months ago and woke up to find a loaf of bread - plastic torn and half eaten in our food box by our tent. All the evidence pointed to badgers on this occasion. This was very much my fault as I hadn't sealed the box properly the night before ...
Anyway, we ate the rest of the loaf and I only started to wonder later - could this be a TB risk? Any expert knowledge in this area would be appreciated!
Has anyone else had similar camping blunders with food and wildlife?
Don't badgers transmit Bovine TB? Unless you are a cow, I doubt you would have to worry.
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Firstly the Badger would have to be an infected animal.
The fact that you could conceivably come into contact with bodily mucus (saliva) is a route for contraction but I am unsure how long the bacteria would survive outside of the hosts body.
Now if you start growing hair on your chest you either ate the crusts or you need to see a vet!
Sadly nothing so interesting ie wildlife encroachment even though we do have trail cams we use when we go camping. We have however seen whilst camping via the trail cam
Rats
Mice
Rabbits
Weasel
Hedgehogs
I love the fact you tucked into the loaf regardless.
If you wanted to catch TB then eating the remains of a loaf that a badger had partly eaten would be a perfectly practical way to do it. Badgers do carry tb in their saliva and do infect each other when they bite each other , often at base of the tail on the back or the neck,in territorial fights. This often leads to severe infection and the death of the badger. Not all badgers are infected and your loaf sharer may have been perfectly healthy. You can probably find out online the likely health status of badgers in your area. Call APHA on 03001000313 and they might be able to give you some general advice on whether badgers in that area are likely to be healthy. Might not give you details of disease on a specific farm.
Quote: Originally posted by DeborahTurner on 10/4/2018
I am HORRIFIED (but a bit fascinated) that you ate bread half eaten by unknown wild animals. But welcome, anyway
Quote: Originally posted by DeborahTurner on 10/4/2018
I am HORRIFIED (but a bit fascinated) that you ate bread half eaten by unknown wild animals. But welcome, anyway
Same here
Usually if signs of wild life appear then the food / waste signs of night life would be used for where tonight's wild life safari would take place.
Sitting quiet in tent / caravan watching the real world in action.
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Quote: Originally posted by Nimrod7 on 10/5/2021
If you wanted to catch TB then eating the remains of a loaf that a badger had partly eaten would be a perfectly practical way to do it. Badgers do carry tb in their saliva and do infect each other when they bite each other , often at base of the tail on the back or the neck,in territorial fights. This often leads to severe infection and the death of the badger. Not all badgers are infected and your loaf sharer may have been perfectly healthy. You can probably find out online the likely health status of badgers in your area. Call APHA on 03001000313 and they might be able to give you some general advice on whether badgers in that area are likely to be healthy. Might not give you details of disease on a specific farm.
Your knowledge of badgers is impressive sir.
However, I doubt the current health status of the local badger population will be relevant to April 2018, when the OP first nibbled on said loaf of bread!
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But same applies, if any animal has had self service don't join in the buffet
Use it to make your visit more interesting
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