ProRail made considerable progress on Friday with the excavation of the badger sett under the railway at Esch. The rail manager thinks that at this rate it should not take a week before trains run between Den Bosch and Eindhoven again. Train traffic has been at a standstill since Tuesday because badgers are under the track. “The damage is not too bad so far. Many caves are not under the railway itself.”
On Friday morning, ProRail started excavating the first holes of the badger sett under the railway. At least four excavators and a small army of naturalists and railway workers have been deployed for this. That went easier than expected, says the rail manager.
“If it keeps going like this, it doesn’t have to be another week.”
According to Wilma van Kollenburg of ProRail, the holes that were excavated on this first day are not that deep. “As a result, the damage seems to be not too bad for the time being. They were short corridors that did not contain any ties and that were sometimes connected to each other. If it continues like this, the work does not have to take another week.”
The spokeswoman does not want to speculate on when exactly trains will run again. “Saturday and Sunday we have enough to do and we will tackle a few larger burrows. There is also a nursery nest and that is why a vet will join.”
“If we find cubs, we really need a vet.”
A badger female and young can be found in such a maternity nest. The animals are protected and therefore must be handled with care. Ecologist Jeroen Koorevaar keeps an eye on this. “We have seen from the nipples of the female that she is feeding cubs. If there are cubs, we really need the vet.” He must ensure that the boy and mother come out of the hole safely.
Koorevaar looks at each burrow with his own eyes and with a camera to see if there is a tie in it. “In this way, we are digging up the empty holes bit by bit.” When a corridor has been excavated, everything is neatly sealed again. Mesh prevents the badgers from making holes again. “If a badger is discovered, we stop digging so that the animal can leave its den on its own.”
“The most exciting thing we’ve found so far is a lizard.”
The naturalist has been keeping an eye on the badger sett in Esch for nine months. “Because there are no trains running now, it has all gained momentum.” No badgers were found on this first day of excavation, says Koorevaar. “The most exciting thing was a lizard and we rescued it and released it somewhere else.”
ProRail and the ecologists are constantly monitoring the badger burrows with cameras. “Because of all the hustle and bustle, the badgers are now less visible. We film everything to check that they leave and whether the mesh really stops them,” explains the ecologist.
According to Koorevaar, it is logical that badgers like to sit in the Esch. “It is a varied landscape with enough food in every season, but the badgers all need their own territory. There is not much difference in height, so a railway embankment like this will automatically become attractive.”
ProRail will therefore take permanent measures later this year to protect the track against badgers.
