Protecting Crops?

[tarancepil7]

Normally, I have no trouble protecting my crops. Enclosing my fields with trap-fences usually suffices to both keep my crops safe and provide me with a semi-steady supply of meat.

Not this time. There's a pesky badger that keeps eating my broad beans. I haven't seen the badger, just its tracks. I'm honestly usps tracking showbox speed test not sure what to do about it; I have small deadfall traps set up and baited (with raw fish, which I know it'll eat). I just had to replant some of my broad beans (again) because the badger ignored the baited traps and crawled through the fence to eat my plants.

Two questions:

Is there any way to more reliably protect my crops, save for replacing every fence tile with traps?

Am I sabotaging myself with my trap pits? Can badgers or other small animals run over those? Or does it not matter, since replacing them with fences wouldn't keep the badgers out anyway?

[JP_Finn]

If your character has a dog: sleep outside by the field, until wake up to noises/seeing something. Hide. And . . . the badger will come to sight. Tell your dog to attack the badger.
Follow the dog and butcher the badger carcass, the skin is likely torn to ragged or worse.

[Tom H]

Try adding turnips and the beans they are devouring as bait in your deadfall traps. I've seen a badger just destroy an entire field of turnips. For all we know, vegetables are their preferred food. Also, don't discount the possibility of deer/elk being the culprits. Fences are fine for keeping those out. 

Regarding traps, I assume that the game encyclopedia definitions for the various traps are the best guide on which traps are aimed at particular animals. I've never caught anything smaller than a wolf in a pit trap so I think it's doubtful that your defense line of pit traps will inhibit the badger. Deadfall traps' definitions are pretty specific about the animals they can target. 

[PALU]

I don't think badgers are able to cross pit/bear tracks, although they won't trigger them either. I usually build a trap fence to keep elk/reindeer out and then line the inside with snares/pawboards. That seems to keep critters out, even though that shouldn't actually trap a badger.

[JP_Finn]

I don't think badgers are able to cross pit/bear tracks, although they won't trigger them either. I usually build a trap fence to keep elk/reindeer out and then line the inside with snares/pawboards. That seems to keep critters out, even though that shouldn't actually trap a badger.

Most creatures won’t enter trap of “wrong size”, but I’ve seen a hare go on a readied trap-pit, and eat the turnip set as bait for deer/elk. Depending what the trap-pit’s “trigger weight” is, it might allow badger to walk right over. Since then, I place some loop snares or light lever traps every 20-40m, and bait with berries and turnips both.

[Tom H]

One solution which might work is to leave the area while standing within the bean patch. Then, when you return with weapon in hand, you'll be plopped down inside it, hopefully surprising the badger. I actually got a badger doing this... not in time to save most of my crops, though. lol