Unexpected visitor

Despite the cold weather of late, my Mum thought she had a Hedgehog visiting her feeder. The muddy marks she found on the patio door, she attributed to their little feet, although they looked more like nose-marks to me. To solve the mystery, I lent her my trailcam and we were both astounded at what we found:

 

Ok, so a Badger isn't rare, but as my Mum said "It was literally the last thing I expected to visit my garden because I didn't think there was anywhere large enough for them to get through." And just to prove it wasn't a one off, here is another shot from two days later:

All that's left now is to work out how they are getting in!

Today's mammal signs

Well used, fresh Badger latrine found in Dolforwyn Woods today and lots of fresh Otter spraint adorning a riverside tree at Llandinam Gravels. Plenty of molehills at Llandinam too. You've gotta love the glamorous side of being a mammalogist!

Badger births

Badger cubs are born underground from mid-January, but births are peaking about now. This also marks the start of the Badger's main mating season, leading to increased territorial behaviour.

All this means that now is a perfect time to start looking for signs of your local Badgers. If you find an animal path, see if you can follow it; if it is a Badger path it will eventually lead to either a latrine or a sett.

Badger latrines are distinctive, being a series of scrapes in the ground, filled with piles of, often sloopy, poo.  If you manage to find a sett, the D-shaped holes, freshly 'ploughed' spoil heaps and discarded bedding should give it away.

Badger - Mochyn Daear

Well done Tammy for starting up a mammal blog for our county - I look forward to reading what different folk see throughout the year, and hopefully contributing myself with some interesting sightings. Here's a cheeky chappy that comes, sometimes with his family, to our garden on a nightly basis.