18 June 2017

The bluebells of May have given way largely to the bracken of June. No badger has appeared in our bit of the wood for some time. We found one dead on the nearest main road not so far away, possibly one we've seen on camera just over the fence -- a very big male as it turned out, if it's the same one.

The latrine at tend of our bluebell patch is no longer in use. Instead, there's a new one about 100m away. I've had a couple of cameras monitoring this bit of the wood for a few months. The penultimate inspection of the chips yielded all the usual visitors: deer, foxes, a hedgehog, feral cats, and the odd solitary badger.

Look what turned up yesterday:

The first wild badger cubs seen in our wood since I first put up a trail camera in 2012!

In these consecutive clips the adult can be seen scent marking the cubs; it's how badgers recognise kin in the dark. The cubs are on their best behaviour away from home. Closer to the sett they are likely quite frolicsome. Alas, we have no idea where their sett is.