The predominantly pastoral west is thought to provide more preferred habitat for badgers than the arable east of the country.
There will be some movement of badgers even within areas of high density where social groups are virtually contiguous.
Movements of badgers between social groups is a natural phenomenon.
The amount of perturbation is a factor of the degree of culling, and the number of badgers surviving it.
When earthworms are not available badgers are forced to select other food sources and will forage greater distances to obtain these.
However, they may not be available to badgers under some conditions such as during periods of dry weather.
Furthermore, cattle feed may provide alternative nutrition for badgers when natural foods are unavailable.
Currently, however, no data are available to link low body weight to disease resistance in badgers.
