Badger Watching in the Rain

Last night, in spite of the rain, I took the two young women into the woods to see the Badgers. In one respect I was not looking forward to it, as far to often I have had problems with other people at viewing points who are either over excited and disturb the wildlife or get impatient when nothing appears soon enough. However with the folks that are in the right frame of mind, and willing to accept that sightings may be brief or not happen at all, then it can be magical.

It started out well as they were dressed appropriately, and had forsworn make up. The odour from this can alert mammals to a human presence. Taking just binoculars and torches, we were ready to go. The young women's farther gave us a lift to an access point, and reminded them to ring him if they needed a lift. That had me worried as a ringing mobile can spook the Badgers. However they understood that the phones needed to be switched off.

It was still light when we got to the Sett, because of wind direction I had needed to lead them around so that we could approach from the far side. It added about three quarters of an hour to the journey, but also meant that the badgers were likely to be ready to emerge when we got there. We had barely settled ourselves when the Brock emerged. He sniffed the air and retreated. Were we discovered? The women were pleased and were carrying smiles.

After only four or five minutes he came out leading one of the sows. Then another Badger emerged, I think it was a young male but I have not yet learnt to identify them all. For the next ten minutes or so they scratched themselves, one rolling on its back to scratch its tummy, that was the young male. The Brock headed off possibly to feed or to use the latrine. That left the Sow and the young Male who started a game of rough and tumble.

I looked across at the women, who were clearly delighted at all this, and I was pleased that they remained quiet and relatively motionless. We could also see the snout of another Badger sniffing the air, but for what ever reason it did not seem to want to come out. Eventually the two that were out went off to forage, the wet weather had ensured that the worms were close to the surface and as they went on their way, so the were stopping to feed every half minute or so.

By this time we had been there for almost an hour and the light was fading fast, I whispered across do you want to stay? It was like I had two nodding dogs with me. I am glad they wanted to stay as the young sow that had been sniffing the air finally came out, leading three cubs. They are by now nearly half the size of the adult females. I suspect that it was the scent of the playful male that was putting her off emerging. I was watching her and one of the cubs, when one of the others tumbled down the slope and came to a stop five or six feet from one of the women. We were all laying on our bellies and I could see this made her nervous, I thought she was going to push herself off the ground. She did not as the cub bounded up the slop to do it again. The second cub with her saw this and decided to follow crashing into the first. So the sliding game was swiftly followed by chase and try and bite the tail. After three or four minutes of this the clan moved off and out of sight. We could hear them for a good ten minutes though.

the rain had become heaver but we all stayed in position and waited for over an hour. By then I said that it was time we moved, there was little chance of seeing more come out, and while we could have waited for the Badgers to return, that could be in several hours time and we were soaking wet. The women were careful about moving quietly and I was pleased there was no disturbance as we left. I asked if the could see the path, the rain had made it visible in the moonlight so the torches were not needed, I prefer not to use a torch, but I was also concerned about the young women's safety. As we walked along the path though one of the young women finally burst out asking can we talk now! It was like having a couple of excited kids with me who could not stop talking. I told them that I think I should have brought along Ear defenders.

They called their Farther, and we had a lift back. We needed to put bags on the seats as we were all soaked, and my cheeks were smothered with kisses before I could get into the car. This amused the girls farther. It could have made my cat jealous though had she been there. One of them told her farther about the ear defenders comment, and I was told I was lucky as I did not have to put up with their music.

As it was late they all came into mine for a coffee and to dry off. The father and I were banned from the bathroom for nearly an hour. But I was able to get into my own bedroom to get out of my wet clothing. When the girls excitement died down, my cat thought she was in seventh heaven as she was getting lots of fussing. Along with the coffee I handed out slices of the tart I had baked the other day, I don't have any left. Even though these women are young adults, and not kids, it was a relief when I was able to hand them back. They were more exhausting than a long wildlife vigil or a hike across country.

It was a great nights viewing and was really pleased that the badgers had come out and were there for sustained periods too. As it gave them a chance to really see the Badgers close up and behaving naturally. I was pleased to see all this too as it all adds to my knowledge of this clan.

I have been asked if I will take them again, and I am willing, but only if they book decent weather next time. But I think that it is just the parents trying to get rid of them for a while.