Badger Watching

We have some very large badger setts at Avonvale which have been in existence for many years and are still growing in size with more and more entrances appearing every year.

Awakening at dusk after a day long nap, badgers are impatient to leave the sett and begin shuffling about, their subterranean snorting and snuffling disturbing the silence of the wood. Then, at some chosen moment, a female badger slowly emerges, and sets about a meticulous grooming exercise, sifting through her thick fur with teeth and claws. Then, satisfied that no danger lurks near, she gives the all clear and the remainder of the colony cubs and adults explode from the sett entrance, boisterously playing, rolling each other over, turning somersaults, twisting and nipping, all the while accompanied by excited whickerings from the cubs. Then they all set off together for a late evening's foraging, from which they may not return until dawn.

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During the day badgers remain in their sett a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers. A large sett may honeycomb the earth over an area twice the size of a tennis court, with almost a quarter of a mile of tunnels and up to 50 entrances.

Outside particularly ancient setts great spoil heaps some containing up to 25 tonnes of material often build up during its long occupation as soil from excavations and bedding straw and bracken are regularly deposited at the entrances. Badgers are indefatigable homemakers, and are continually improving and enlarging their setts, and changing their bedding, or, on mild days, putting it out to air.

COMMUNAL LIVING

Badgers live in social groups, and it is common for an entire clan to forage together. The size of the group varies but it is unusual to find more than 12 including cubs. The social group remains a remarkably cohesive unit. Bonds between its members are strengthened by constant contact and play, with scent marking playing a major role. Each badger secretes its own personal scent from a gland just below the tail. As members of the group regularly set scent on each other, the whole group acquires a composite scent unique to the sett.

The badger is essentially a peaceful creature with few enemies, and can live quite happily side by side with other animals, such as foxes. A badger is a formidable opponent, however, and it is thought that its distinctive coat advertises that it is not to be trifled with. When cornered, even by large dogs or foxes, the badger can usually dispatch its attacker by lightning slashes with its long sharp front claws, or by biting with large canines set in massively strong jaws. It is a big and powerful animal, an average adult male weighing up to 251b and measuring almost three feet from nose to tail. Exceptionally huge specimens have been recorded though, with one or two reaching 501b or more.

The badger is omnivorous, and its diet is an unsavoury mixture of roots, fruit, cereal, seeds, earthworms (a special favourite which they lick up like spaghetti), snails and slugs (which are rolled on the ground to remove their slime); beetles, insects, larvae and grubs; carrion, small mammals and fledgling birds. They will also devour wasp nests, complete with occupants, and can neatly peel a hedgehog to consume its viscera. With such variety from which to choose, it does not matter that the badger is not built to pounce, or for speed, although an angry or frightened badger can run at a galloping speed of 20 miles per hour.

A bizarre fact of badger life is that no matter when they mate, which they do enthusiastically throughout the year, the cubs are always born in early spring. This is due to delayed implantation, which means that the fertilized egg does not attach itself to the wall of the uterus until around December, regardless of when mating occurred. Pregnancy then lasts about seven weeks. This ensures that by the time the cubs are weaned. spring is well under way and there is plenty of food to be found.

The cubs are born in a chamber near the sett entrance which allows for good air circulation. The female prepares the birth chamber for weeks in advance filling it right up to the ceiling with bundles of dry bedding. Sometimes 20 - 30 bundles are collected and shuffled back wards into the sett in a single night. This is not just for comfort; February, when some cubs are born, can be very cold.

The number of cubs in a litter varies from one to five. At birth they are tiny - 41/2" (12cm) long and weigh between 21/2 to 41/2ozs (75-130g). They are dependent on their mother for a long time and suckling continues for a minimum of three months, or much longer in dry conditions when Juicy earthworms are scarce. At about six weeks the cubs start to explore their home, but seldom venture to the surface before they are two months old. Their first appearance is usually well after dark; they are loathe to leave the sett, and keep bunched up together or in close contact with their mother. By the time they are 10 weeks old, however, they will play in carefree abandon near their sett entrance.

There is only one adversary by whom the badger is consistently beaten - man. The badger has been charged with many crimes, and has not been able to protest its innocence, with the result that over the ages countless badger families have been trapped, snared, poisoned, gassed or shot, and left to die in excruciating agony. Fortunately, although a creature of habit, the badger will, when obliged, move to safer territory free of man's depredations.

NIGHT VISITORS

Shy, cautious creatures, badgers are rarely seen out of their intricate underground homes by day. Instead they emerge from their setts at night to begin foraging expeditions which often last until dawn. They live in social groups of about 12 members and it is usual for the whole clan to gambol out boisterously for the nightly search for food.

BABY BROCKS

Born any time from Mid January to Mid March badger cubs are weaned from their 12th week. By this time the spring, with milder weather and plentiful insect and plant food available, is well on the way. Some cubs from each litter, usually consisting of 1 - 5 cubs, leave the sett in which they were born to find new territories in which to live.

IN THE SWIM

Badgers prefer to travel on land but when forced they will take to water, where they prove to be excellent if unwilling swimmers.

THE BADGER'S SETT

Badgers live in clans in a series of underground tunnels and chambers. The chambers are lined with thick heaps of straw, grass and leaves, which are often renewed and frequently aired. Probably for reasons of hygiene dead badgers are walled in by the other badgers in the sett. Back to top