Emma's Safaris

Badgers are a source of such heavy debate within local communities. They are seen as cute and adorable humbug coloured British bears by some and TB carrying gremlins by others. Badgers it seems are much like Marmite ..you either love them or hate them.

It goes without saying that Phil and I LOVE badgers with a passion. We had commenced monitoring them in our garden before we moved and as much as we adore our new home I have to say that I missed waking in the morning to find my meagre peanut offering devoured and the camera trap triggered.

We were delighted therefore when someone in our town offered us the opportunity to film these unique and elusive animals. The location of course remains a closely guarded secret for their protection. We jumped at the chance to do this.

The first rule of capturing badgers is that you don’t badger them. The last thing we want is to disturb an active set so great care is taken to ensure the camera is set up in a non intrusive location to allow them to pass through without being inhibited or bothered in any way.

This sett was quite difficult to work out at first. Phil was absolutely amazing though and we did actually obtain a video on our first attempt at the new site. Phil was able to position the camera in such a way that a young female could be seen emerging from the sett entrance at around 5am.

The excitement of getting this brief but wonderful glimpse into the world of the badgers was quite intense. We watched the badger emerge but also noticed that she did not return…at least not in shot….

Badgers have their homes often set up like we humans do. Often there is a front and a back door. The sett often has multiple entrances and exits and the badger family can live there for generation after generation using the same passages and hollows as their predecessors. Setts have been known to extend in excess of 100m from start to end so can be absolutely vast.

It didn’t take long though for us to discover the tell tale signs of badger activity. Scratches and paw prints marked the ground and other entrances could be seen cutting into the landscape. This was quite the active sett so we placed the camera again.

Unfortunately it transpired that in our excitement we had not considered the weather, and overnight  we captured a domestic cat and about 5 hours of a bramble blowing in the wind. To be fair, it was a fantastic bramble bush just not quite what we had hoped for!

As we are not badgering badgers we gave the location a little rest but yesterday Phil set up the camera again this time in calmer conditions and out of the foliage and well, we were not dissapointed

Phil once again succeeded with his camera trap skills and we captured a family. We can see this clan consists of two adult badgers and two babies. This is at least what we have picked up from the footage obtained. We will need more time to analyse this and more footage to know for sure.

One of my favourite moments had to be this little cutie below (yes this is the technical description) chewing at the bush. You can see how grey and small this little one is. It is possible that he or she is no more than a couple of months old

The badgers at this secret location are safe. They will not be disturbed or hurt but as we know this is not always the case. A badger should be able to live until they are around 15 years old but sadly due to the dangers that humans pose from roads and buildings the life expectancy is just 2 years old. It is absolutely vital therefore that we do what we can to understand these beautiful animals so we can enjoy them and keep them secure.

The most amazing footage we captured was actually in daylight at around 5.30am. Videos are hard to upload on here but the image is actually far clearer and less fleeting. The male it seems is the last to return to bed for rest. He is the equivalent of a human Dad heading up to bed at 11pm after watching Match of the Day on TV and checking to make sure all the doors are locked.

This encounter summarises what I love about nature. You don’t have to touch or badger animals to engage with them or learn about them or to enjoy them. This is such an non intrusive way to immerse yourself.

I highly recommend the purchase of a trail camera. You can buy them for a range of prices. Ours cost about £80 but you can purchase them for a lot less than this. My first cost £20 but sadly the images stopped downloading. You may think that you won’t see anything. Perhaps you won’t but maybe, just maybe you may be surprised by the secret life of animals who arrive at dark and dissapear into the light.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog today. I ask for anyone close to me who knows where we have set this camera could keep this a secret and not mention the location in the comments for the security of the badger family.

Have a beautiful day everyone x