Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Badger Spring Clean

Latrine Pit
Entrance above sett

Excavation


Excavation & tracks

Main entrance

Side entrance
We discovered a large badger sett this week with an an extensive network of paths and holes spread over a large area with three main entrance areas some 100 mtrs apart. The sett we assume must be very old as it covers a very large area with numerous main and minor entrances with link paths between them. We found lots of signs of badger activity such as bedding been taking and and removed from the setts. There were also lots of signs in the surrounding area of badgers digging up grubs and bulb to eat, as well as numerous latrine pits.
As can be seen from the photos the badgers have been very busy with excavation and bedding changing. Judging by the number of latrine pits and there contents the badgers are not going short of food either !


I will not mention the exact location for obvious reasons, but talking with some locals reassured us as to the safety of the setts as they are under observation and protected by alarms.

Signs of Spring







A walk along the coast the other day was very pleasant in the almost spring like temperatures. Plenty of early signs of spring with various flies and honey bees seen feeding on the profusion of Gorse flowers out. Sue and I also spotted our first Primroses of 2009 in flower with lots more just needing a few more days to burst forth.