{"id":188,"date":"2022-01-21T19:06:36","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T19:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/home-ed-in-a-shed.blog\/?p=188"},"modified":"2022-01-21T19:06:42","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T19:06:42","slug":"badger-badger-badger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/home-ed-in-a-shed.blog\/?p=188","title":{"rendered":"Badger, badger, badger…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hey Blog! Today I\u2019m writing about tracks, signs, and my favourite animals. Yes, Badgers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, I took part in the Whistlestop Wildlife Watch group. We meet every month, and this month\u2019s session was about tracks and signs. We looked for footprints, nibbled nuts, animal poo, holes, and any other evidence of wildlife. We found all of these, and more, but the star find was a very clear badger path, which is why I am talking about these creatures today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have looked for tracks and signs many times, and one species I have been particularly interested in is the badger (meles meles<\/em>). This characteristic black & white animal is familiar in the countryside, as well as being the Wildlife Trust logo, and a mark for many other organisations. My favourite sign is their foot print, which is distinguishable from a dog in the fact that it has five toes, as a dog has four. (See pic 1.) The other sign that is very clear is a latrine, or badger toilet, which is a small scraping in the ground with some poo in it (Pic 2.). Many of these are territory markers, but some are around setts so they can go to the toilet whenever. The other signs are paths, and their setts, or homes (Pic 3.). All setts are identifiable by their sideways \u2018D\u2019 shape, and have a large earth heap at the front. Only badgers have the \u2018D\u2019 shape, so it\u2019s a pretty good clue. For a long time, I had never seen a live badger, only signs, and very sadly, dead ones. Then, in the middle of a picnic one day, I we heard a strange noise, and thought it was a squirrel, but then the black-and-white face appeared, and there was my first live badger! The only other time I have ever seen them is when we went out (on VE day, so there was a lot of sound, which we thought might drive them away) deliberately looking for them, and after a long wait, they appeared! Then, coming back, another one shot across the road, and scrambled down through the verge. Four badgers in one night! Wow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pic one: Footprint<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Pic two: Latrine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Pic three: Sett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

There are a few reasons why I like badgers. The first is the cuteness. They are some of the cutest critters in the UK, and how they behave is just lovely! They have families just like us, but unlike us, they bond their family with \u201canal rubbing\u201d which is basically doing \u201cEskimo kisses\u201d with their bottom. There is also their heritage. Recently a hungry badger led archaeologists to a hoard of Roman coins; there is a sett near us where the animals are turning up pottery; and there is evidence a Celtic prince was buried on a bed of badger skins. These animals have a long past, and they show it. The final reason is their uniqueness, and similarities. They have five toes, patterns in their behaviour, social bonds, and many other things that we share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sad thing is these beautiful animals are in danger, from us. Roads, culls, habitat loss\u2026 many things are contributing to their decline. I hope people will recognise this, help the badgers by making space for them, and look after the countryside so many more people may observe these wonders of nature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey Blog! Today I\u2019m writing about tracks, signs, and my favourite animals. Yes, Badgers! On Sunday, I took part in the Whistlestop Wildlife Watch group. We meet every month, and this month\u2019s session was about tracks and signs. We looked for footprints, nibbled nuts, animal poo, holes, and any other evidence of wildlife. We found […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-ed-in-a-shed-2"],"yoast_head":"\nBadger, badger, badger... - Home Ed in a Shed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Badger, badger, badger... - Home Ed in a Shed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hey Blog! 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