'Be aware of badgers' appeals Nikita after spate of deaths

After a number of badgers were killed on a stretch of road in Louth, a local lady has taken matters into her own hands to appeal to people to be more aware of our local wildlife.
By Rachel Armitage
Published 19th Feb 2024, 09:19 GMT
Mural artist Nikita Spires with her badger mural on Eastfield Road.Mural artist Nikita Spires with her badger mural on Eastfield Road.
Mural artist Nikita Spires with her badger mural on Eastfield Road.

Mural artist Nikita Spires has created an impressive mural of a badger on Eastfield Road, near Louth Park, urging motorists to slow down and drive carefully to protect the high number of badgers that live in the area.

As a member of Extinction Rebellion, Nikita, 24, said she has always loved all animals and cared for the environment.

And when she came home from travelling around Australia for two years at Christmastime, there were three badgers killed in road collisions on this road in just a week last week.

Nikita Spires creating the badger mural on Eastfield Road.Nikita Spires creating the badger mural on Eastfield Road.
Nikita Spires creating the badger mural on Eastfield Road.

“I just decided that something had to be done,” Nikita said, “I understand that a lot of people dislike badgers because they carry tuberculosis,

“We put up nature cameras around the park and there’s a lot of badgers around here, and a lot of people don’t realise that badgers don’t live in small numbers, there can be up to 200 in a clan.”

An artist by trade, Nikita’s mural journey began when she was just a teenager when she created the Marilyn Monroe mural on the wall of an alleyway off Eastgate in town, and after going to college and university, decided to create her own mural art business.

“I wanted to share art with the community in Louth after I was travelling in Australia,” she said.

The mural near Louth Park.The mural near Louth Park.
The mural near Louth Park.

Nikita decided to put her skills to good use by creating a mural which will hopefully encourage motorists to slow down and be aware of the prevalence of badgers in the area, which took her two days to create.

“I did have people coming up to me having a go at me angry at what I was doing. But I got permission from all of the neighbours and when I explained what it was for, people were happy with it,” she said.

“People were angry and I’ve been getting a lot of hate online because they thought I was painting on a live tree, but it’s a on a dead tree stump and the paint is non-toxic acrylics.”

You can see more of Nikita’s work, and get in touch with her about commissioning a similar mural on your property or business, via her Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/nikitaspiresart/

Related topics:LouthExtinction RebellionAustraliaEastgateMarilyn MonroeInstagram