Conservation & Ecology


early to mid February, and cubs from those litters emerge above ground for the first time in early to mid April. Further north the timing is likely to be a little later. But, as ever in nature, there are lots of


exceptions. Rarely, cubs are born as early as December, others as late as March. The reasons for such variations are unclear, but the health, age and fitness of the sow, and an instinctive response to severe or exceptionally mild weather conditions, are likely factors that delay or bring forward birth times. Pink-skinned, about 120mm long, covered


in greyish-white silky fur, with eyes sealed for the first few weeks, new-born cubs range in size from around 75g to 130g. Suckled underground, they put on weight quickly, body hair starts to grow and, by the time they emerge above ground for the first time (often rather unsteady on their feet), they have the distinctive striped face that makes badgers so recognisable. Cubs are usually fully weaned at around fifteen weeks.


Badger setts


Setts vary from single-entrance, short- tunnelled, occasionally used ‘outliers’ to vast, ancient, sprawling underground complexes with multiple entrances extending to 100 metres or more. These are the family homes, used, maintained, and enlarged at will by generations of the same social group. Badgers have shaped much of our


landscape. Large, odd-looking humps and


bumps in woods, hedgerows, fields and hillsides are often the work of badgers - nature’s mini JCBs. They love to dig and they are very good at it. Main breeding setts - some centuries old - are made up of a myriad of mostly interconnecting tunnels and chambers, often at two or three different levels. What comes out must go somewhere, hence the vast piles of spoil (earth removed by digging) at sett entrances. Fresh piles of soil are an instant give-away. Old spoil heaps can be more difficult to spot, for nature takes over and, in time, turns them into green, plant-covered hillocks. Elderberry trees are a common sight around setts. Many will have been ‘seeded’ by previous generations of badgers that have eaten the elderberries and expelled the seeds in their faeces. Main setts can hold any number of


badgers, from the more usual five or six to as many as twenty in the larger complexes. Main setts often change in size and shape as badgers dig new tunnels and chambers. This year’s busy entrance with soil worn smooth by the passage of many paws can be next year’s cobweb-covered or debris-blocked disused entrance. Why, we can’t be sure, but badgers do die underground and it is likely that the rest of the clan move elsewhere in the sett. When the social group increases in size following successful breeding seasons, more tunnels and chambers - our equivalent of house extensions - are needed. In addition, tunnels collapse, banks give way and trees


A recently born cub


Cubs leave the sett on unsteady feet


PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2016 I 117


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156