National Badger Day

Today is National Badger Day so I took a walk around Badger Bank, the huge sett with over 40 entrances that I discovered back in February. There's been a lot of forestry work in the area recently to remove the non-native conifers, opening up the woodland and allowing the native trees and wildflowers to flourish. Unfortunately a lot of trees were removed from the bank housing the sett, so I was keen to check for signs of activity, hoping the badgers had not been disturbed too much.

It looks very different now the trees have been cut down along the bank, although you can see the site is starting to recover and looks less 'scarred' than when the work was first carried out. It's amazing how quickly mother nature heals by rotting down fallen branches and sending in the nettles and brambles to cover the wounds.

The sett stretches all the way along the bank

I didn't need to worry as there were lots of signs of recent badger activity ...

Fresh chalk diggings and trails through the undergrowth

A latrine!

Bedding dragged out of the sett

Logs broken apart where the badgers have been looking for food

I have to admit that until I stumbled across Badger Bank I hadn't really thought very much about badgers. There are setts all over the Chilterns, but I've never actually seen a badger, except for the poor things that are run over on the side of the road. However, I now feel great affection for 'our' badgers, especially since we set up the trail camera and caught them on camera. Luckily the badger cull doesn't take place in Buckinghamshire (yet) - I just hope somebody somewhere sees sense and calls off the cull!