Badger & Trail Cams...

I have had a trail camera in the woods for over two years now.  The first time I set it up on the end of a fallen tree, on which I spread a little raspberry jam to tempt in the locals.  It got lots of footage of the Red Squirrels that inhabit the small patch of pine.  I collected many day time videos of Red Squirrels chasing, caching, squeaking & munching pine cones.  


There were a few other wonderful visitors to the camera at night time, including, Fox, Brown Hare, Stoat & Pinemarten.  I was so surprised & extatic at the Pinemarten footage, even though it was just a small glimpse, it made me even more curious, so I bought another trail cam.

  One camera has been in the same place since June 2020, strapped to a Scots Pine, along a Roe Deer trail.  This camera has given me lots of interesting footage.  The other I have moved around the woodland a few times, desperate not to have 286 videos of Bracken blowing in the wind... (It happens) 

In October 2020 I had my first glimpse of a Badger on the cam.  It was captured passing through the woodland, using the same trail as the Deer.  Heavy & low to the ground it's shape was unmistakable.  Over the next few months & into 2021, I began to have more frequent sightings of this Badger on both cams. I knew it was the same Badger as it has a very distinct curve or bend in its tail.  It was always running up or down the trail, scenting the ground as it went.  I was so excited, I searched high & low for months trying to find a hole that could resemble a sett, to no avail.  In Feb 2021, I followed the Fox & Badger snow prints for miles trying to find a den or sett. It was a negative... 
I walked for days...

In Summer 2021, June.  As I was doing my usual walk around the woodland, I spotted a large dirt mound I had never seen before.  As I walked closer to it, heart pumping loud, I could see prints in the excavated dirt. Prints with claws.  I quickly snapped a few pictures with my phone.  I was straight on Amazon to purchase trail cam number three.  I was obsessed. 

The very next afternoon, I was back in the woods placing the new trail camera facing the large excavated hole.  Now with three cams & four memory cards, I wouldn't miss a movement.  Every visit, I would change one card, process the videos at home, then go through the whole process again... You are probably wondering,
 'Does she ever work?'
More about that in a future blog. ✌

Late Summer & into Autumn, I collected videos of this Badger digging and excavating many holes, scrapes & latrines.  Every time I visited the woods, I noticed how busy it had been.  
One night in Mid-september, I set up my hide in the field next to the woodland in hope for a sighting in real life.  As there had only been the one Badger, I didn't hold up much hope, & I was right.  All I got that night was a tick-bite to the neck. 

Over Autumn & into Winter I gathered footage of this stunning Badger digging & collecting bedding from it's surroundings & dragging it into the freshly dug Sett. Still all on its own.  It was certainly making a wonderful home for itself, but I was beginning to wonder how long one individual could survive on it's own. Especially with Winter approaching. 

That was until last Saturday... 

After a day in the woods photographing the Squirrels, I picked up the card from Sett Cam, as I usually do & went home to process it with a large brew.  After a few videos of the Badger scratching at the entrance, a common sight, another Badger came out of the entrance. I couldn't believe my eyes. I rewound the video to make sure I hadn't been mistaken. 
 It was definitely two Badgers.  Just in time for mating season... 




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