{"id":533368,"date":"2026-04-16T02:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/533368\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T02:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:51:16","slug":"badger-rescued-after-being-found-entangled-in-aberdeenshire-school-football-net","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/533368\/","title":{"rendered":"Badger rescued after being found entangled in Aberdeenshire school football net\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A badger which was found \u201cvery tightly\u201d tangled in a school football net in Aberdeenshire has been rescued.<\/p>\n

Experts believe the animal, which was reported to the New Arc Wildlife Rescue charity by Monquhitter School in Cuminestown at around 9.30am on Monday, April 13, must have become trapped at some point over the weekend.<\/p>\n

The charity\u2019s co-manager said he had no idea exactly how long the male European badger had been stuck for, but added it was likely to have been \u201cquite some time\u201d due to the digging marks and volume of excavated soil at the scene.<\/p>\n

\"BadgerNew Arc Wildlife RescueBadger caught in football net: \u2018The school actually initially told us they thought he was dead \u2013 on approach he quickly came to\u2019 New Arc Wildlife Rescue<\/p>\n

\u201cWe arrived at the school at around 10am to find he was very tightly tangled in the net, and initially he was very quiet,\u201d Paul Reynolds told STV News.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe school actually initially told us they thought he was dead, and on approach we thought so to, but he quickly came to once we got closer and became very active.<\/p>\n

\"TheNew Arc Wildlife RescueThe pitch under the goal post was worn away where the badger had become stuck. New Arc Wildlife Rescue<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no idea of the length of time he would have been there for but there were a lot of scratches and digging marks where he\u2019d tried to get out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Reynolds, along with the help of interns Julia Wending and Audrey Zuliani managed to get the creature into a specialised badger cage using a catcher pole, where he was then sedated and assessed at Glenythan Vet Group.<\/p>\n

\"JuliaNew Arc Wildlife RescueJulia Wending and Audrey Zuliani from New Arc Wildlife Rescue retrieved the badger. New Arc Wildlife Rescue<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a few wounds and a constriction-type injury under his forearm, which is obviously common with these sort of incidents and can often look worse than they actually are,\u201d Mr Reynolds said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was then prescribed some antibiotics and anti-inflammatories by the vets and is now back with us, where he has settled nice and quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he came in he was understandably very stressed, but he\u2019s now back to a routine of sleeping lots throughout the day and eating well, which is exactly what we want.<\/p>\n

\u201cBadgers have a very diverse diet and we\u2019ve managed to sneak his medication into him by putting it into day-old chicks, which they happen to be very fond of.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether he came from a sett or is a single male ready to make his own way in the world, we aren\u2019t sure. But, if he continues like this, he\u2019ll be ready for release back into the wild soon \u2013 hopefully by the week\u2019s end.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Scottish SPCA spokesperson said: \u201cIf you find an injured or sick badger, do not attempt to hold or touch the animal. Badgers can become aggressive if they are in pain or feel threatened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can give a nasty bite, and their sharp claws could cause serious injury, if you try to catch it.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease call our helpline on 03000 999 999 or another suitable rescue organisation, and we will make sure to get the appropriate care team to it as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

STV News is now on WhatsApp<\/p>\n

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\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A badger which was found \u201cvery tightly\u201d tangled in a school football net in Aberdeenshire has been rescued.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-533368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}