Badgers

Most of our garden is quite flat, but at the end there is a steep bank which runs along the back of the houses. The overgrown bank was there long before the houses and is shown on the earliest detailed maps in 1870. The banks has probably been used as a highway by wildlife for all these years and has various holes, most have probably been used at one time or another by badgers or foxes.
We became aware of the holes and that they were being used in 2006. I put some damp sand by the entrance and sure enough some paw prints that had to  have been made by a badger appeared.
For Christmas 2006 I got a web camera, and we have been watching the badgers antics ever since (when all the equipment is working).

Seen Me (1404Kb)

When I switched the camera on the badger was taking some bedding in. It came out again a few minutes later, and as it was only just starting to get dark I went down to the bottom of the garden. I could hear it moving about next door, so I went and stood near the sett where I  could see the path to the entrance. A few minutes later the badger came along, but could obviously smell me as it started sniffing the air. Then it looked straight towards me (about 10ft away) but didn't seem to see me (I was standing very still). Then it decided to make a run for it back into the sett. It didn't come out again for three quarters of an hour, but then after having a good sniff settled down for a good scratch.

One of the best views I have got of one of our badgers!
Do they know the camera is there? (1,819 Kb)

Adsjusting the camera
 The infra red Led's emit a slight red glow which the animals can detect, but apart from few sniffs they generally pay little attention to he camera
If they don't want us watching they can always adjust the camera!

Cat and Badger (411Kb)


Cats (and dogs) can see well in the dark because they have a reflective coating on the back of their eyes which helps collect more light. It also means that their eyes reflect light, in this case the infra red from the camera. In this case the cat decided that discretion is the better part of valour and decides to go back the way it came.		 20-05-2009 Day 30

I wonder if this cat still has all 9 lives left?
High speed chase (177Kb)
The fox certainly isn't the top dog		 Grooming (1,514 Kb)

An important part of a badgers life, and you need to groom all bits.
Badger on Ice! (1,269 Kb)

Badger on ice

Like any other animals badgers need to drink, its a bit difficult when the pond is frozen though!
Nocturnal? (895Kb)


Badgers are mainly nocturnal, but do come out during the day, but being in town its much scarier during the day as their are lots more people around




Relationships

Unwelcome Visitor? (3,328 Kb)

Unwelcome Visitor?
Once the sow has given birth she is soon ready to mate again, so late winter is a time when the brocks (males) go visiting. However she isn't always interested to start with.






Home Improvement

Digging (612 Kb)

Digging

On several nights she has spent over an hour digging, going in an out bringing a bit more soil out each time. 		Social Grooming (1,383 KB)

Grooming each other is an important way of bonding, as well as removing unwanted guests. Being nocturnal badgers rely upon their sense of smell a lot, so being able to recognise you friends and relations by scent is important. That's why during grooming badgers rub their bottoms against each other, they have a scent gland their which they use to mark each other with. This session went on for over 10 minutes!
Taking Bedding into the Sett (288 Kb)

 Collecting Bedding
We thought that the fact that she had taken lots of bedding down into the sett (not just what I have put out) was a hopeful sign that we may have a sow (female) with cubs. However we would have expected to have seen the cubs by now. Still with all the activity and the visiting male hopefully we will see some next spring. 


Monkey Nut (2,010 Kb)

Monkey Nut

We puts some monkey nuts out. It took a little while for the badger to get into them