Badgers are active in winter

1 Result at 3rd Jan 2013

2. Definitely a badger

3. Christmas Eve to Christmas Day 2012 - no reindeer did that!

The story above is a bit back to front. The tale actually started in early November when something was disturbed under the birdtable which is only about 2 to 3 meters from the patio door when we slipped out with the dog in early evening. A little later and another day we saw the creature more fully. It appeared to be grazing on the 'cereals' which had grown from the seed the birds had scattered from the feeder & we had left as 'extra' for the them this winter. The animal eventually came out from behind the birdtable and we could quite clearly see the badger markings. It was impossible to try to get a photo through the door and when we tried to very gently open the door, we were rumbled and it was off!

About the middle of November - well 15th just after my daughter got home, there was a return visit which we could see markings very clearly and the bold one came right out towards the door. This time we got the door open but the photos were useless as we could not use tripods. After this we did not see the visitor again although we were sure they had been around. Neighbours helped to identify a route into the garden over a wall., under their fence. 

On Christmas  morning the scene in the third photo was my greeting! The scratches on the birdtable base are surprisingly deep. That was no reindeer. In the intervening time we had heard tales of badgers sleeping in coal bunkers and 'cosying' up in garden sheds, followed by digging up garden beds and heaving gates off hinges. Well until Christmas Eve we had had no evidence of 'destruction' and certainly no uninvited guests appear to be sleeping around our place.

On 27th December, our lad brought us a camera trap on loan to see if we could get pictures. Wishing that I had Gordon Buchanan around to help, I fitted batteries and endeavoured to set it, which proved surprisingly tricky as 30secs allowed for each step. Now that is very little when you are grappling with an unfamiliar bit of kit which as it turned out was 'Americanised'. The year is very wrong but!! Then we attempted to secure it as best we could laid down peanut bait, set it and waited. On the third night the bait had vanished. In the meantime I had to nip out, switch camera off during day and grab the bait out of a very greedy dog's reach & replace each night and reset camera. These camera trap things are hard work!

However, we were rewarded with lovely back and bum views of our visitor - the camera was too high, but we had something. We have since moved the camera nearer the birdtable and lower, but this move coincided with the weather turning much colder so we've had no luck so far. Even snickers are not tempting enough! We do however, remain optimistic that we may get a cherished front view of a badger.

Where are we? In the midst of Malt Whisky Country in Moray's Speyside.