Object number
68/564
Description
This is a badger fork, which was used by poachers at Totnes, Devon for pinning badgers to the ground before putting in a sack. This fork is made of a naturally forked birch branch.
Physical description
1 fork: wood
Label Text
Badger fork. A simple, cheaply made instrument used to capture a live badger before forcing it into a sack for it to be transported and sold. It is now slightly rotten and unkempt from disuse. May have been used in conjunction with the badger shovel and badger pliers to uncover and keep the animal at bay. Although badger baiting has been illegal since 1835, there have been sporadic cases ever since. Wilfully taking a badger from its natural habitat was criminalised under the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act.
Archival history
MERL ‘Handwritten catalogue correction’ form – ‘BADGER FORK // Hunting Poaching // L. K. Elmhurst, Donnington Hall, Totnes // BIRCH Natural forked branch .. Condition: wood rotten. Broken in two pieces in transit. Ends of fork broken- before arrival at MERL.’
Object name
Material
Associated subject
External document
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_11265.tif - High resolution image
