Monday 7/9/09 - Another late finish....

First day back at school today for the pupils where I work. Usual chaos with lots of forgotten passwords and other problems. Eventually leave work at about seven. By time I'm home, I have less than an hour before going back out to see the badgers. It'll be a pleasant way to unwind after a hectic day.

I take my dad's camera over tonight with a view to getting some more close shots of the badgers. By time I get down towards the hide it's already quite dark. I check the time and it's 20:20. I walk on a bit further and a badger is approaching from my left down an adjoining path. I stop and watch, but he sees, or smells me and, although he doesn't run off, he turns around and heads away from me back in the direction he came from. Onward towards the hide and movement out in the feeding area. A single badger is there already! 20:25. I must get here earlier. This one, too, trots off as I approach and I set the food out as normal. Into the hide and at 20:40 a badger appears down the main path. He works his way towards the hide and is soon within photographing range. I put the camera behind my back and switch it on. It makes a bit of a whirring noise, so I reduce the noise as much as I can. I carefully put the camera out throught the gap in the net and take a shot. I take a quick look at the image and a message says "Memory Full". Odd, I think as I thought there was a lot of space left. Then it dawns on me. I've left the card in the card reader at home! Coming out in a rush is not a good idea!

I now have the two "usual" badgers, I think, feeding close to the hide. I just sit and watch and enjoy. I always find it particularly funny when they start pushing each other in competition for the food. Small grunting sounds usually accompany this pushing match. As the food is now running out, I whistle and throw some more nuts out. They latch onto them fairly quickly and polish them off. I throw some more and accidentally hit one of the badgers with at least one nut. No response. They're not too shy close to the hide, so it seems. Another top up of nuts and I hit the badger whilst he has his back to me. He turns around so quickly, it's amazing. They are not the fastest animals in the world, but turning around they are very quick. It doesn't bother him and he begins eating the nuts I hit him with. I top up the food a couple more times, but let the badgers wander off into the dark and make my way back up to the farm uneventfully, a little less stressed than I was earlier!