I have made no secret of my love for books here, they can provide some wonderful entertainment as well as information, and for me personally there have been books that have inspired me too. I may have mentioned before, hey the mouse repeats, there was one book, A Forest By Night by Fred Speakman, that inspired me to go badger watching when I was a child. Especially as the badgers he watched and recorded were in the same forest that was my stamping ground as a child.
Because of my own current watching activity, and my recent acquiring of a copy via the Internet, I have been rereading many of my books on badgers. I would love to get my paws on a copy of the New Naturalist Badger but as these books have become collectors items, I cant afford to buy a copy as copies of it are changing hands for three hundred pounds plus. That makes it frustrating for people like me who want to use the information rather than just own it as an investment. I do have many volumes from the New Naturalist series but I have them as tools for conservation.
Also, these books on wildlife have enabled me to understand what I should be looking for when I am out looking for wildlife, the type of habitat, the times that a species is active etc. However, sometimes what I see and experience is different from what the books would lead me to have expected. What happened last night is a perfect example of unexpected behaviour from my badgers.
I have previously spoken of the way that one sow, female badger, has musked me. That’s where she scent marks me with urine, it maybe what did for my previous boots.
With the freezing weather, watching the badgers has become a difficult and uncomfortable activity. While I normally position myself up a tree to watch the badgers, there is a hollow at the base of one tree that I have started to use as well. This is a warmer location but provides me with less visibility. I have had nights where I have only heard the badgers but not seen them clearly. The other night I knew there was a badger or two some ten feet or so from me, but in the dark shadows I could not be sure of what I was seeing, moving shadows, my eyes playing tricks on me, or were the badgers really sniffing at my feet.
Last night, while I was well wrapped up, I could see frost forming on my coat, as well as my legs. It has been so cold that I have taken a flask with me just to ensure that I don’t place myself at risk of incurring hypothermia. So last night I decided that I would have a hot drink and risk not seeing the badgers return, I had already seen them leave. I could hear them, but in the distance. So I was surprised when after I poured out some soup, I heard one of the badgers start to come closer. Its something that may surprise many people just how noisy the badgers are. Anyway, I think it was the smell they came to investigate.
I had the experience of having two young badgers, this years cubs, playing around me even occasionally running and jumping over my legs. That went on for a good forty minutes, then they both went off again.
My thoughts of going home returned and I poured another small cup of soup. I didn’t think it could get better and as I got ready to get up and move one of the young badgers returned. She was less boisterous and snuffled my boots and legs. I dropped a handful of peanuts for her and she made short work of them. Then she climbed onto my outstretched legs and settled down and went to sleep.
I couldn’t believe what was happening, her warmth was welcome but her weight did make my legs go numb. I think she stayed there for about half an hour, and only moved when she and I heard other badgers coming back to the sett.
What a remarkable experience, I had read of this type of interaction going on before with other experienced badger watchers, but I was sceptical, I never expected to experience anything like that myself.
When I finally stood up, it was clear where I had been sitting was clear as I had left a frost free patch on the ground. I will be stopping my nocturnal vigil for a while, but
I will be back watching my badgers again in the New Year.
Because of my own current watching activity, and my recent acquiring of a copy via the Internet, I have been rereading many of my books on badgers. I would love to get my paws on a copy of the New Naturalist Badger but as these books have become collectors items, I cant afford to buy a copy as copies of it are changing hands for three hundred pounds plus. That makes it frustrating for people like me who want to use the information rather than just own it as an investment. I do have many volumes from the New Naturalist series but I have them as tools for conservation.
Also, these books on wildlife have enabled me to understand what I should be looking for when I am out looking for wildlife, the type of habitat, the times that a species is active etc. However, sometimes what I see and experience is different from what the books would lead me to have expected. What happened last night is a perfect example of unexpected behaviour from my badgers.
I have previously spoken of the way that one sow, female badger, has musked me. That’s where she scent marks me with urine, it maybe what did for my previous boots.
With the freezing weather, watching the badgers has become a difficult and uncomfortable activity. While I normally position myself up a tree to watch the badgers, there is a hollow at the base of one tree that I have started to use as well. This is a warmer location but provides me with less visibility. I have had nights where I have only heard the badgers but not seen them clearly. The other night I knew there was a badger or two some ten feet or so from me, but in the dark shadows I could not be sure of what I was seeing, moving shadows, my eyes playing tricks on me, or were the badgers really sniffing at my feet.
Last night, while I was well wrapped up, I could see frost forming on my coat, as well as my legs. It has been so cold that I have taken a flask with me just to ensure that I don’t place myself at risk of incurring hypothermia. So last night I decided that I would have a hot drink and risk not seeing the badgers return, I had already seen them leave. I could hear them, but in the distance. So I was surprised when after I poured out some soup, I heard one of the badgers start to come closer. Its something that may surprise many people just how noisy the badgers are. Anyway, I think it was the smell they came to investigate.
I had the experience of having two young badgers, this years cubs, playing around me even occasionally running and jumping over my legs. That went on for a good forty minutes, then they both went off again.
My thoughts of going home returned and I poured another small cup of soup. I didn’t think it could get better and as I got ready to get up and move one of the young badgers returned. She was less boisterous and snuffled my boots and legs. I dropped a handful of peanuts for her and she made short work of them. Then she climbed onto my outstretched legs and settled down and went to sleep.
I couldn’t believe what was happening, her warmth was welcome but her weight did make my legs go numb. I think she stayed there for about half an hour, and only moved when she and I heard other badgers coming back to the sett.
What a remarkable experience, I had read of this type of interaction going on before with other experienced badger watchers, but I was sceptical, I never expected to experience anything like that myself.
When I finally stood up, it was clear where I had been sitting was clear as I had left a frost free patch on the ground. I will be stopping my nocturnal vigil for a while, but
I will be back watching my badgers again in the New Year.
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1 comment:
Really amazing story! The thought did occurr to me that accustoming the badgers to humans might not be a good thing for their sake-however you have desribed them being in danger anyhow, and if you apply what you are learning to help protect badgers on the whole, then one surmises it would be for the good of the whole...so now you are bound to do the right thing. ;)
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