Felt Badger Pattern

My first memory involving badgers is from 1984-1988 television adaptation of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. The stop-motion animation series featured a dapper looking cast of animals and realistic miniature sets. I was just young enough at that time for this to be extremely creepy. The suit and ascot wearing Badger frightened me most of all. Maybe it's time for me to read the book again and get over it.

Click HERE to download the free pattern.

If cute badgers don't work for you, how about this creepy bloodthirsty version?

The pattern image can be resized to make anything from a tiny badger pin to a large badger pillow. A PDF of the pattern is also available on Craftsy HERE (PDFs can't be resized though).

This is where I would normally provide links to other cute badger patterns and tutorials that can be found online. This time, I'm using the space to raise awareness about the planned British badger cull instead.

Scientists have established a link between badgers and the spread of tuberculosis in dairy cows. (The exact nature of this link is still contested.) Since dairy farming is a billion dollar industry, the English government is getting ready to send out marksmen with bait to blast away most of its badger population. According to a recent BBC article on the subject: "The government's plan is based on the results of a nine-year trial which showed the spread of the disease could be slowed slightly if more than 70% of badgers in an area could be eradicated." (source) Hmmm.... slightly?

Needless to say, this is a controversial plan, and other options have been suggested. I encourage you to read this BBC Q&A and make up your own mind about what approach is best. In Wales, they are tackling the issue by vaccinating the badgers!

 Image courtesy of Badger Trust badgertrust.org.uk

 Image courtesy of Brian May's Save Me save-me.org.uk