18 December 2013

A large storm passed through in the afternoon and early evening. The camera facing the sett, attached firmly to a large tree, swayed in the wind when recording some falsely triggered clips before the badgers came out -- providing an interesting perspective on how much trees move.

The camera at the rear entrance malfunctioned yesterday and continued to do so. Even with new batteries it recorded hundreds of video clips of nothing. Well, not entirely. Fast forwarding through them provided a time-lapse animation of a slug zooming around on the ground. At least all this was done using rechargeable batteries for the first time. This camera may be kaput, alas.

The badgers -- and the scavenging fox -- weren't given any food (not for the first time). The badgers dug up some bluebell bulbs on the path along the edge of the wood. They left some bulbs scattered on the ground, so perhaps they were after something tastier.

The video shows a small tussle over something edible. I can't be sure it's Benji who loses this one, but it probably is, and I begin to wonder how he'll cope if he meets an agressive territorial male badger. Badgers are monogamous (but not necessarily faithful) and this pair have been together for some months now. Will Benji be driven off? Or Róisín lured away?

The badgers were out from 23:04 to 0314. The fox passed by in a hurry at 0651.