The nights are certainly drawing in now. I keep getting caught out by the early arrival of dusk each evening. Soon I'll be struggling to get to the badgers before it's dark as I'll be at work. I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it.
Tonight, though, I'm over there before dark, just. I get down to the hide and put the food out whilst listening to several wild Tawny Owls which are close by. One is in the tree just behind the hide to the left and is quite loud. I decide to leave the net up tonight so just the open doorway between me and the badgers. When I do this I use a camo "buff" to cover my face as it takes away that white facial disk which is a classic signature for us humans.Just gone eight and the first badger shows up. He makes his way towards the hide and is soon a metre, or so, away busily eating nuts and dog food. The badgers are coming into the most important time of year for feeding as they need to put some weight on to cover the winter months when food is not so abundant. The two that are turning up regularly shouldn't have any problems!
Badgers don't always see eye to eye!
The second badger does turn up tonight, about ten minutes after the first. The second to arrive is generally at the hide very quickly as the first one eats the trail of nuts I leave leading into the feeding area. They are both busily sniffing and eating. I'm still amazed at how wonderful these animals look, they are in really good condition and those faces are just striking, If they hear something, they pause and can look straight at you and their eyes twinkle away. I don't think they are the most intelligent wild animals around, but they have something about them that is very appealing.
Badgers embarking in some "argy bargy"
They've eaten most of the food now and are beginning to wander round, noses to the ground trying to find every last nut. I decide to feed some extra nuts now and whistle and throw a few extras out. That isn't as straight forward as it sounds as I've got the Buff covering my face and I can't whistle. I have to pull it down below my chin in order to do that, but they don't seem to mind. They both converge on the nuts and begin trying to push each other out of the way. As I've said before, I find this highly amusing and would like to get it on video. This is proving difficult as I need three hands really. One for the camcorder, one for the lamp for additional lighting and the third to throw the nuts! Photographing it is a little easier as I can throw with one hand and hold the camera in the second, managing to push the shutter release with my thumb and flash being part of the camera gives me the light I need. I have put some nuts on the doorstep of the hide and when I stop throwing additional nuts out, the badgers, or one of them in particular, comes investigating. His nose leads him to where they are and he puts his feet onto the door step and starts feeding. He is about 18 inches from me, if that. The picture below isn't very good as it is difficult to move and frame and focus a shot with a badger so close, and remember, no net tonight. I think he looks like he's playing the piano, but look at those claws! A great design for a digging animal, wouldn't you say?
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