First Badger

Posted on | June 26, 2009 | 8 Comments

I’m so lucky I keep things within easy reach so I can grab them when in a rush. Boy did I need it Thursday night. I had got confused, and thought that my meet up with Mike was a couple of days away. So imagine my surprise when Mike called saying he was outside. I quickly grabbed my camera gear and ran out the house.  That was going to prove costly later on.

We got to the secret location, and started throwing down the peanuts that Mike had bought along at selected spots. Even though it would look random to any passer by, these where carefully selected spots that we thought would attract the badgers. The badgers had chosen a lovely place to live apart from the cursed midges. Guess what Mike and I hadn’t come prepared for.

We spotted a good place to view the potential entrances from. However the clouds of midges decided it was also a good place to eat Mike and myself. Forcing us higher into a protective breeze.

As Mike and I passed the time we chatted away. It was then that I spotted a little movement in the entrance to one of the holes. I saw the flash of a snout, which was gone as fast as it had appeared.

Above Left: Mike awaits the appearance of the badger. Above Right: This alien creature landed on my leg!

We sat quietly this time waiting for the badger to reappear. But after what seemed like an age, the only reward for our patience was the breeze stopping. Being opportunist little buggers the midges attacked with renewed venom. I swear they were trying to make up for lost time. Well folks you know how I am with midge bites, I was being eaten alive. I pulled my fleece up over my head and tried to keep an eye out for the badger in a brief gap I had left to see. Mike wasn’t faring any better with his coat. It’s times like this that I sometimes wish I was still smoking. A good ol’ ciggie and it’s smoke would of kept them at bay. It was during this moment of the midges using Mike and myself as an all you can eat buffet that the badger decided to make an appearance.

It was magically seeing the badger make it’s tentative moves out of it’s hole. Sadly it seemed a bit nervous, which meant after about five minutes it disappeared back into it’s hole. Had it smelt Mike and myself? Who knows but it was very dark and after ten minutes or so waiting for a further reappearance we gave up and headed back to the car. It was during this packing up and walking back that we saw a couple of hedgehogs.

So here is the video that I shot, edited and uploaded for your delight. I know these nature videos don’t appeal to folk as much as the gear videos. But hey I enjoy doing them. Sadly on this one the footage didn’t come out as well as it looked on the cameras lcd screen. Just remember Mike and I suffered for this, and I’m paying a high price in my reaction to the bites.

You can read Mike’s write up of last night here.

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