Last night was the first night for over two weeks, which I have not been out keeping station on the Badgers. It was only because of the poor weather conditions that I decided to keep to my bed, as my nocturnal activities had enabled a chest cold to persist.
While it has been remarkable to watch the season change from autumn to winter, even more remarkable has been my ability to witness the animals as they prepare for winter. Often at night it is really the sounds that tell you the story of what is occurring, however the frequently heard owls seemed to have been everywhere. I had to do some serious reading to work out if what I was seeing was unique. But I realised that it is in fact just that the young hatched this year are finding their own feet, or should that be talons, and trying to establish territories. The fact that they are doing it in their parents’ territories is why they are suddenly so frequently seen. So while this observation is nothing new to science, it has increased my understanding of the natural world. Further, I have been privileged to be using the same branch as my viewing platform as a young tawny owl has been utilising as a hunting perch.
This observation also helped me to decode some of the other faint sounds I was hearing. What I had initially thought was the gentle rustle of leaf in the breeze turned out to be small mammals, mice, vole even shrews.
Then there have been the sounds and shadows of the foxes lightly imprinting their path across the frosted leaves. While a fox can be silent, the cries they emanate can make the blood run cold. I understand that when the mating season for foxes happens, the police get an increase in the number of calls informing them that some thinks a woman is being attacked in the bushes somewhere. Quite a chilling sound and it is no wonder that myths grew up around woods.
Before even talking about the badgers, the other remarkable experience is the deer. With my perch in a tree, I am above the roe deer as the pass below me. They know my sent and know that I have passed, but fortunately they don’t look up. If they did they would see me as this small group of seven hinds walk, amble and skip just feet below me. I may take a picture of this, but I know the flash will startle them and I don’t want to disturb the natural behaviour that I am seeing. Nor frighten them into taking another route. Partly this is because in the badgers I am seeing some remarkable behaviour.
After the deer have passed, quite close to the sett, the badgers seem to then go grubbing for worms along the track the deer took. This has the effect of obliterating almost all the signs that the deer were there. But what has been even more curious is that on the couple of nights that I haven’t seen the deer the badgers don’t forage for worms there. Further, when the deer were late passing, the badgers seemed to wait until they had passed and seemed to move from an equally rich feeding area to feed on the deer track. While I suspect that there is something else going on, it appears as if the badgers are aiding the deer by hiding their passing. Quite curious.
While it has been remarkable to watch the season change from autumn to winter, even more remarkable has been my ability to witness the animals as they prepare for winter. Often at night it is really the sounds that tell you the story of what is occurring, however the frequently heard owls seemed to have been everywhere. I had to do some serious reading to work out if what I was seeing was unique. But I realised that it is in fact just that the young hatched this year are finding their own feet, or should that be talons, and trying to establish territories. The fact that they are doing it in their parents’ territories is why they are suddenly so frequently seen. So while this observation is nothing new to science, it has increased my understanding of the natural world. Further, I have been privileged to be using the same branch as my viewing platform as a young tawny owl has been utilising as a hunting perch.
This observation also helped me to decode some of the other faint sounds I was hearing. What I had initially thought was the gentle rustle of leaf in the breeze turned out to be small mammals, mice, vole even shrews.
Then there have been the sounds and shadows of the foxes lightly imprinting their path across the frosted leaves. While a fox can be silent, the cries they emanate can make the blood run cold. I understand that when the mating season for foxes happens, the police get an increase in the number of calls informing them that some thinks a woman is being attacked in the bushes somewhere. Quite a chilling sound and it is no wonder that myths grew up around woods.
Before even talking about the badgers, the other remarkable experience is the deer. With my perch in a tree, I am above the roe deer as the pass below me. They know my sent and know that I have passed, but fortunately they don’t look up. If they did they would see me as this small group of seven hinds walk, amble and skip just feet below me. I may take a picture of this, but I know the flash will startle them and I don’t want to disturb the natural behaviour that I am seeing. Nor frighten them into taking another route. Partly this is because in the badgers I am seeing some remarkable behaviour.
After the deer have passed, quite close to the sett, the badgers seem to then go grubbing for worms along the track the deer took. This has the effect of obliterating almost all the signs that the deer were there. But what has been even more curious is that on the couple of nights that I haven’t seen the deer the badgers don’t forage for worms there. Further, when the deer were late passing, the badgers seemed to wait until they had passed and seemed to move from an equally rich feeding area to feed on the deer track. While I suspect that there is something else going on, it appears as if the badgers are aiding the deer by hiding their passing. Quite curious.
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