We very occasionally have the the same problem in the U.S. with badgers, groundhogs, prairie dogs and groundsquirrels. I always give a wide birth to a rural cemetery tucked into the edge of a farm I hunt, despite the number of groundhog and fox settes located along the edge. No reason for me to face a false charge of grave robbing!
From the BBC comes this badger story from Swindon in the U.K.:
Badgers have burrowed under graves bringing bones to the surface at Swindon's Victorian Radnor Street Cemetery..
Frances Bevan, of the cemetery's preservation group, said the situation was "very distressing" for relatives.
Swindon Borough Council said: "Licences to move badgers are only granted in exceptional circumstances."
A spokesman said: "There have been occasions over the years where human remains have been found above the ground in the cemetery and we have reverently re-interred these as close to their original graves as possible."
Ms Bevan, from the Friends of Radnor Street Cemetery group, added: "It is quite a worry because the cemetery is pretty much left to its own devices and you just feel that there isn't anything you can do.
"The badgers are left to breed. I've no idea how many are up there but there are a couple of huge setts."
The site was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 2005, and under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 it is illegal to interfere with a sett.
1 comment:
Interesting.
As I do not wish critters dig up human remains, the fact is still that remains are put in the ground to breakdown "naturally." We forget that "nature" includes critters.
It's sad. I don't blame the people for being emotive to it, I imagine it to be gutwrenching and heartbreaking.
Humans tend to want to place err on nature when nothing is wrong with nature. The err is with man for not considering badgers when designating land to cemetaries.
People don't like to accept the blame though, do they?
I wonder if they continue to bury dead in the badger infested cemetary?
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