Badger Diary

22 January 2017

Many weeks have passed since a badger set foot in our end of the woods. Indeed, it's been long enough that I switched the cameras from video to photo to save wasting batteries on the comings and goings of feral cats and foxes as well as hedgehogs, deer,

19 September 2016

Which of the badgers visiting the latrine at the corner of our wood are alumni of our badger rehab establishment? One can't tell by looking at them. We haven't seen the female with the tied-around-the-middle look lately (a legacy of scarring from an illegal snare). It&

12 September 2016

When the leaves start dropping from the trees a badger's thoughts turn to preparing for the winter. Here's the mother of the cubs seen in the video of the 14th of August [https://www.badgerdiary.net/14-august-2016/] gathering in some bedding. It's been quiet

29 August 2016

For months I've wondered if our badgers were visiting our wood by coming under a nearby gate and crossing the road. I put a camera up a tree at two different locations to try to record them doing so but the the distance proved too great for night-time

14 August 2016

We still have no idea where our badgers are living. Happily, they are still visiting regularly -- one or other uses the latrine in our wood about 2 or 3 times a week. Meanwhile, I have put a camera on some nearby setts I know to see, first if they

31 May 2016

Our badgers didn't stay in the nearby sett. One was killed on the road about 2km away shortly after they were released (confirmed from his microchip). We may know where two of the survivors have gone: a sett on the edge of a wood a few fields away.

13 January 2016

Nocturnal Visitor Uh oh! I said on hearing noises at the front door at 10PM last night. Not again. Having given two of them a fright a couple of times already in recent days (for their own good -- people are dangerous) and then somewhat regretted it, I went quietly

Christmas 2015

This blog is due for a catch-up. Our first two badgers, Róisín and Benji, are gone. Róisín left abruptly, apparently with a visiting male who began to venture into the sett when they were out. Benji moved out later but returned regularly for food for quite a long time (about

31 December 2013

A wet night, cold but not freezing. No sign of any visitor in our neck of the woods. I tied the camera on Edgewood Road to a large fallen branch and left it, propped in the crook of two branches, pointed at the latrine. It was pointed off to one

30 December 2013

No videos and just three photos at the sett overnight: one of the badgers near the dish of food (not finished) between 4:11 and 4:19. It was a windy night and quite cold. They may have stayed in much of the night. Two more overhead photos of the

29 December 2013

Another disappointing night photographically: nothing at all at the sett. I put a camera over the latrine on Edgewood Road and got a single photo of our new neighbour using his new facility, or at least of the top of his head (it's likely to be male), at

28 December 2013

Yes, it seems our badgers have been discovered by a wild badger. Sometime in the last few days a badger motel on Edgewood Road, last used for a few weeks two winters ago, was reopened (it had become full of leaves, sticks and earth). Two of three entrances showed signs

27 December 2013

The badgers were camera shy last night, or vice versa. However, I think the sett may have had a brief visit from another badger at 5:11 -- perhaps the same one who visited yesterday? Last night it looked more badgerlike and larger than Róisín or Benji. No videos however,

26 December 2013

A very wild night indeed: cold (1 degree or so) and very windy. Very little sign of the badgers, apart from one rear view of one walking back to the sett at 2:18 and another walking into the woods,and not returning, apparently, at 3:16. Two dishes were

25 December 2013

The badgers were given two dishes of food again, placed some distance apart. The last of the frozen quail was divided between them -- to ensure, if possible, that Benji got a look-in. The first cover was knocked off at 18:04 (early, despite the cold) and a quail was

24 December 2013

A new camera arrived in time for me to set it overnight before we left to see family on Christmas day. I tied it to a makeshift stake made by lashing three fence posts together and put it on the path outside the rear entrance to the sett. I did

23 December 2013

Not the best day on the equipment front. First, I broke my ancient tripod yesterday. A clasp with a plastic fitting shattered in the cold and the 3rd segment of one leg dropped out and a spring flew off into the bracken. I reduced it to its minimum height and

22 December 2013

Finally, a freezing night. I moved the camera inside the exit to the field a bit further back along the path leading straight to it (there's another at right angles along a bank). I managed to photograph one badger coming and going. Leaving.</font size> Returning,

21 December 2013

Quite a dull night. Warm with some showers. The badgers were out from 00:25 to 5:27. They came and went from the sett now and then, individually, sometimes meeting, looking a bit wet, and muddy-nosed in one case at bedtime. There was no playing, digging or gathering bedding.

20 December 2013

A warm, dry night again. I put the photos-only camera on the inside of the exit to the field to see if I'd have any luck photographing comings and goings. I succeeded in getting good views of the the rear ends of a badger at 3:43 and

19 December 2013

Quite a cold (3 degrees) and drizzly night. The camera that will only take videos continuously (draining the batteries and filling up the storage) still works for individual photographs. I put it on a tripod in the field on the other side of the exit that I believe the badgers

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

17 December 2013

A rather similar day to yesterday. The fox spent quite a long time smelling the path on Edgewood Road in the spot where the badgers had been pausing to scent mark. He visited the sett at 21:20 and was a bit bolder this time: he tried to bite a

16 December 2013

A bit of a replay for Benji last night, with some milder weather. The fox showed up and cirled the dish a few times at about 19:15 but didn't dare attempt to get the cover off. Benji had just managed to do so a few hours later

15 December 2013

A bit of a wild night -- windy and rainy. The badgers emerged from the main entrance at 22:45 and stayed out for only 10 minutes. For once, one of them, I now think Róisín, went straight for the dish of food, which was back near the sett, knocked