Latest head count.

Last summer  there was a total of seven badgers rambling over the sett, a whole family. I enjoyed several hours each night watching them until it was too dark to see. I had first seen them in the spring, when we suspected they were occupying the sett.I crept out one night and never having seen a badger was both excited and quite alarmed at their size! I had thought of them as being fairly small, but having seen them first hand was surprised at how big they were!
Tonight I went up on the sett with my little infrared torch , my jeans over the top of my pyjamas and a thick fleece on. Immediately I heard them on the sett crunching on the dog biscuits I leave for them. As I sat down and got into position, I shone the torch out. A familiar pair of red eyes glowed at me from the back of the field and I quickly realised it was a fox, as the eyes were  too high from the ground to be a badger!  I am imagining it was the dog fox,  as the vixen is fairly brave and would have stayed.  Then out of the little badger hole came a rather small badger, probably one of last years cubs. Two tiny red eyes staring straight at me. Badgers are extremely short sighted and are a little jumpy at first, as I try not to make sudden movements. Easier in the dark, as the infrared torch doesn't bother them. A much larger badger came from the back and began to eat the biscuits, turning it's eyes towards me every now and then. Soon another smaller badger was coming out of the sett and as I had done my head count for tonight, three at the moment, I made my quiet escape.
I cannot wait to watch them   in the coming months. As  more  cubs are  hopefully expected, I wonder exactly how many we will see......