Unexpected Badger Encounters

Yesterday I spoke briefly about seeing a Badger that's heavily pregnant. Normally it would be nearly impossible to see or even get near a sow that is pregnant. However, the weather played its part, as because of the heavy rain one of the tunnels in one of the smaller setts, one that I have been guessing is predominantly used as a nursery sett, became flooded. Previously I had noticed that some saturated bedding had been dragged out. Therefore I started watching to see if the wet weather was adversely impacting upon these mammals.

I could see that there were rivulets that were running into one of the tunnels, this was one that had obviously been abandoned many years before. What I was seeing now explains why they abandoned this entrance. Yet because you cant see how extensive the network of tunnels are, this abandoned entrance must be connected with the current bedding chamber.

It is the extensive nature of a Badger sett that can make it difficult and frustrating to observe Badgers. It does help keep the Badgers safe, while there are no natural predators in the UK now, in the past they would have been on the menu for Wolfs and Lynx, this complexity of the sett remains. It does however enable a wildlife watcher the opportunity for that unexpected encounter.

So while I was checking out what was happening, after seeing the saturated bedding, I was near one of the other entrances to this sett. Unexpectedly I heard the sound of a Badger in the tunnel. I was in the wrong place, to exposed and the wind was blowing my scent towards the sett. Laying down in the mud, I am sure that my mother or my ex would have been horrified by my childish behaviour, and waited to see if the Badger would emerge. Badgers always sniff the air before and as they emerge, thus I was expecting her to race back in. My scent was obviously in the air and she could smell me. While I don't think that she could see me, her head kept on turning towards me. While she was hesitate, she finally emerged and it was clear that she was wet. Wetter than the outside of the tunnel, further because her thick fur was plastered to her body, I could see clearly that she is heavily pregnant. Normally she would be steadfastly deep in her nursery chamber as she will be giving birth in the next week or so.

One of the reasons why I had been watching this particular set is because I knew that the female inhabiting this one was likely to have been pregnant and that I would have a chance to see cubs latter in the year. However, while I was able to track her part of the way, she gave me the slip. I have ideas of where she went, but no certainty of where she moved to. Therefore, I may not see the cubs when they first emerge.

Well that's all part of the magic of watching wildlife, you just don't know what you will see. Now where did I put the washing powder?