Woman has been hand feeding the same badger family for more than a decade

THESE pictures show a woman who has been welcoming and hand-feeding two generations of the same badger family in her garden — for over a decade.

Doting Christine Ian, 53, has been caring for her furry friends for more than ten years and has even named all four of the creatures and set them up on social media.

Every night she lays out tasty badger treats on decking in her garden and eagerly awaits for the animals to appear from the bushes in the darkness.

The creatures have become so familiar with Christine that she is now able to hand feed them biscuits and take pictures to share online.

Brilliant images show the badgers munching on a variety of snacks such as nuts, eggs and dog food. On Christmas day Christine treated them to a traditional dinner.

On Shrove Tuesday this week she even put pancakes out for the short-legged omnivores.

The housewife from near Stockport, Greater Manchester, has named the dominant male and female of the family, who are both aged aged seven, Mr and Mrs Lumpy.

Their cub, who is now aged four, is called Humbug, and her cub is one-year-old Bella.

Christine said: ‘I class the badgers as my animal family, they’re like my pets although obviously they are wild.

‘They have the most brilliant characters, some are cheeky and some are more bold than others, just like cats or dogs.

‘I feel like I know them and that they definitely know me too.’

Christine lives in a house that was built on an old badger sett in a village surrounded by conservation woodland.

She said: ‘We soon found a path running through the garden, it was a badger run, that’s where our love affair started with these magnificent creatures.