Badger Set??

[fishaben]

Hi all, me and my dad were walking through a wood (with permission) to see if it was bushcraftable, on our journey we came across this badge set, by the amount of rubble that there was we are certain it was a badger set, but we just wondered that with the amount of leaves in the entrance, is it still in use?? What do you all thing??

Rubble found at the entrance

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Entrance, view 1

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Entrance, view 2

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What do you think??
Ben
P.S sorry the pics are soo big, dont know how to change it. Just scroll across sideways by clicking the roller in middle of mouse if you have one.

 

[bikething]

I think your "underground contacts" have gone on holiday

seriously though, i'd be surprised if an active sett would have that much leaf litter in it - and it looks like it's not been trampled over by a heavy badger...
were there any tracks around it? (assuming the ground was soft enough?)

 

[spamel]

Ash leavesw by the look of them. They may have been blown in since they last used the entrance. I suggest you keep checking to see if it gets cleared out. Keep the location secret.

 

[fred gordon]

There is also the possibility that the badgers were actively taking in the leaves to use as bedding.

 

[rancid badger]

If you have a closer look around the tree roots, you may find a few hairs caught up. they tend to be tri-coloured and maybe 2-2.5 inches long( the ones I find are anyway!) I've got a few photos somewhere in the electronic squirrel box and I'll see if I can post a couple later.

The amount of leaves in the hole does not always mean that there is no one home, simply that either Mr. Badger isn't using that door at the moment or just that a lot of leaves dropped over a short period.

If you have a good scout around the site and locate a few more holes, you can find out which ones are being used simply by placing a few small thin twigs over the hole, obviously not enough to block the thing but sufficient to mean that bill has to push them out of the way-thereby indicating his/her presence.

Apparently, we often have 'bolt holes' for want of a better phrase, not full on setts but basically somewhere to lie up away from the main sett. I'm not sure why we do this but, according to our friendly, Forestry Commission (head) Ranger that's, what we do!

What ever you do, however, please do not publicise the location. I was given no help whatsoever to locate the setts in my area and had to find them for myself. No one talks about locations who wishes to protect old Bill the Badger.

kind regards
R.B.

 

[rancid badger]

not fantastic pictures but-

thats my leg by the way!

this one shows the hairs as found on the roots into the hole
hope this helps any way
Cheers
R.B.

 

[h2o]

looks to me like bill the badger is makin a new bed with the newly fallen leaves.ready for winter.if you clear a bit of sandy earth nr the set u will see footprints if bills in there