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Badger Licences - Surveys and Research
Basic badger surveys
Badgers aren't the only British mammal that lives in holes in the ground, so carrying out badger surveys can involve a bit of detective work, and that often means getting your hands or knees dirty!
Most badger surveys involve looking for badger paths and other signs, such as dung-pits or latrines, and then finding your way from these to their setts. The sett itself can then be surveyed to try to ascertain how it is used. These basic badger surveys, providing that they are undertaken carefully and with due regard to avoiding damage to setts or to disturbing badgers within setts, do not require a licence.
Further information on badger surveys 
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Bait marking
To gain an understanding of how land is used by a particular social group of badgers a technique known as 'bait marking' can be employed to map out boundaries of the groups territory. This technique is labour intensive and requires specialist knowledge and experience. It involves using small harmless coloured beads in food put out for badgers. The beads can then be found in latrines and dung-pits that the badgers use to demarcate the boundaries of their territory. Bait marking is often used where development proposals could impact on one or more social group of badgers, and will often form a part of a badger protection plan.
Providing that bait marking is carried out in accordance with best practice and by a suitably experienced and competent person, then it too does not require a licence.
When might a licence be required?
If a research or educational project might result in an offence otherwise being committed (for example if badgers are to be marked or tagged), then a licence may be required. Scottish Natural Heritage are the appropriate licensing authority for such work. If you are unsure about whether or not a licence is needed, then contact the species licensing team.