Darker evenings

The evenings are drawing darker, much quicker than I remember, so photographing the badgers will become more difficult. I will be trying to go out, weather permitting as will be good to keep track of them as much as I can. Seems to be such a short time that I have been lucky enough to be a part of and can't wait until next spring when there will be new badgers again! It has been very wet and windy up there recently and I have managed  only a few photos........

Rain

The last few evenings the badgers have been out as early as half past six! I think they know there will be food out at this time as I tend to put food out  for the fox and the badgers at the same time. By the time I come at seven thirty , the food has almost gone! I am going to put the badger food out later.....
Last night the rain was particularly heavy, but they still came, four or five and other evenings seven is the regular number!

Evening visitors

Not seen the fox in the evenings for a long while. He was not as nervous as he usually is, so nice to see him eating!

Summer!

With all the people using their gardens now in the evenings, the badgers are quite jumpy! They appear on the sett and begin to eat and as soon as someone laughs, or a helicopter goes overhead, they dive back down the hole! Managed to get a couple of photos last night, but nothing like the seven that are usually bustling around!

It's been a while.......

I know.....It's been a while since I updated this blog, My head has been a little 'full' with other stuff!
Badgers galore here though! June is the month when the first signs of real, and multiple activity occurs on and around the sett. The cubs are growing fast and in the last week or two have seen a total of nine badgers on and running over the sett!

Little family

I have not posted in a while due to it being another bank holiday and various other excuses! There has been no sightings of the vixen for two weeks now, and although this has happened before, I don't feel confident that she will be back. I am doubting she is  even alive now. The reality was , that she had gotten so thin that she could not have  recovered  fully despite my attempts to save her.
The badgers have been up every night, and I have worked out that this year there are four  so far. I have seen the mum, two cubs and later, the dad. The mum comes from the main sett, but often her and the dad come from the back of the field. ( There is a sub sett further back). I am guessing that this is roughly what happens? The main sett holds the mum and cubs and as they grow, the adults move to the sub sett? Who knows! Last year we had seven in all, but only saw the full numbers in July/August.

Badger activity

I woke up yesterday to find badger dig holes on my lawn! I figured it was either the cubs, or because someone had given me a sack of 'dried meat for dogs' , some of which I had soaking in water in a covered bucket which they may have smelled? Anyway the stuff is revolting! It slopped out of the bucket onto the grass and eventually something ate it! The magpies were not touching it, or the fox when it first came. I will be alternating porridge /mash mix and the meat (Goodness only knows what's in it, as I didn't recognise it as anything I had ever seen!)' All the bits no one eats' apparently !
Anyway, I have not seen the vixen for over a week and although my concern for her grows, there has been only one sighting of her since last Sunday, I can't do anything about it. So will just have to wait to see if she turns up.
There was a new dig hole today on the sett and I think this is a badger one. I had wondered why they came and went in that direction, although the dog fox often comes from that side too.
The cubs are obvious to me now and the two of them are growing fast. The whiter faced one is still my favourite!