Scottish badger sneaks into home for a quick snooze in the cat basket

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) were called to deal with an unusual incident at a house at Beecraigs Country Park in Linlithgow (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Iucha) this week. An opportunist badger had sneaked into the house through a cat flap, ate the cat's food then promptly made itself cosy on its comfy bed for forty winks.  

Animal rescue officer Connie O'Neil said: "I got a surprise when I arrived at the property and saw a badger having a nap.

"He had gotten in through the cat flap and had eaten all the cat food before going for a sleep on the cat bed.

"I don't think it realised it was going into a house - it just smelled the food and wanted somewhere to have a wee nap.

"When I got there I pulled the badger's bed round so I could see him properly and he just looked at me.

“He didn’t seem too happy when I tried to move him but I was able to slide the cat bed round and it was then that the badger noticed the back door was open so made a run for it!”

As pointed out on their website Scottish SPCA Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn said that it was very unusual for a wild badger to enter a house. He advised caution if anyone discovers such an animal in an unusual place:

“Like all wild animals badgers can be aggressive when injured or cornered so we would advise not to go near or touch them without giving us a call first,” he said. In Scotland the number to call is the SPCA Animal Helpline 03000 999 999.