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  • After Stoffle's severe mauling by the lions, Brian knew that he had to get his badger under control.

  • His solution was a brand new pen.

  • And, the introduction of Hammy, to help him work off steam.

  • Far from settling down though, the canoodling couple soon prove that honey badgers are not just fearless, but astonishingly clever.

  • We started off with the mesh-type fence.

  • But, it didn't work.

  • Stoffle soon devised a plan for opening up the gate, which has got two bolts.

  • He would get the female to go up.

  • He would go up, open the first gate.

  • He'd hold the gate and say "woman, get up, I'm pulling open, you open up."

  • She goes up to the top, she pulls the second one out.

  • And then he pulls it open, he waits for her to get down and they escape together.

  • The escape was no fluke.

  • Considering their small size, honey badgers have remarkably big brains.

  • Their intelligence is just beyond anything.

  • Whatever Brian did to keep him in, Stoffle was hell-bent on getting out.

  • In the end, and a great expense, Brian had no choice but to build his own badger Alcatraz.

  • Mr. Stoffle, the days of your escape are over, buddy.

  • That night, they called me "Brian, Stoffle's out."

  • I said "impossible!"

  • But we had trees in here, and he climbed up the trees, leaned over onto the wall and he was out.

  • So, we cut all the branches out of the trees in here and left the trees in the middle.

  • Then, he dug up the rocks.

  • He'd rolled them with his back feet to the wall, and neatly piled them up high enough.

  • And then he'd get out, so we took all the rocks away.

  • This is like a game for Stoffle.

  • Every time I'd devise some plan, it was like a game for him to work out how could he get over this.

  • 1 o'clock in the morning, my wife waked me (up) "Brian! Brian! Someone's in the house."

  • She said "I heard a window break."

  • So we freeze.

  • "Oh my!" Expecting burglars.

  • There's Stoffle at my bedroom door, trying to get through the bedroom door.

  • He'd made himself a mud ball and he'd patted to make it bigger.

  • And he rolled it and he stood on it and he just got out like that.

  • People have said, "Oh, did you train it?"

  • I said "Train it? Not at all!"

  • Didn't even think of it.

  • He outwitted us each time, with his skills.

  • Stoffle!

  • I remember one day, keeper left a rake in Stoffle's enclosure.

  • He scratched himself, lies on his side, he's thinking.

  • Computers working.

  • Take the rake, put it on his back, put it against the wall.

  • Climb out and off he go.

  • Stoffle!

  • I mean, you won't believe these stories.

  • You'd think it's a hoax.

  • It's not a hoax!

  • That is Stoffle.

After Stoffle's severe mauling by the lions, Brian knew that he had to get his badger under control.

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