Look what our night camera found! Often the night camera finds nothing other than repeated shots of the same tree. Or worse, blurry pictures of nothing at all. It’s hard to gauge where to position the camera. We know the reserve is home to a range of mammals; otters, badgers, weasels, deer and other species all live here. However, we know very little of their night time activities, plans, paths and routes.
Image credit: Jo Garrad (rspb-images.com)
Studying nocturnal mammals, even comparatively large and familiar animals, such as badgers, is not easy. People have watched dens and sites for years, and yet aspects of the Badgers life are still a mystery to us.
We know these highly social animals live in large family groups. Their sets are complex with many tunnels, entrances and separate living and sleeping quarters. Occasionally Badgers even have underground latrines, as well as the main above ground latrine a short distance from the set. However, aspects of their social interaction, or how they behave in the set is still something of a mystery to us.
The bold and stripy face of the badger acts as a warning to predators. For if attacked the badger is quite capable of defending itself. The facial marking are unique to each individual and it’s possible that they recognise each other in this way. Although the badgers eyesight is fairly poor and their sense of smell excellent. So it is predominantly with their nose that badgers discover the world around them.
Image credit: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)
Also arousing curiosity are the reported observations of badgers burying their dead. These are rare sightings and the purpose behind it much disputed, but the badger is an intelligent and amazing animal so a range of possibilities exist. It is possible that they could (as elephants do) mourn for their dead, holding group burials.
The Eurasian badger (Meles meles) is certainly an attractive and charismatic member of the mustelid family, which also contains, stoats, weasels, martens and otters. Whilst we know Badgers are on the reserve there is something quite magical about seeing images of them caught on the camera like this. We are hoping that we are lucky enough to get more sightings of this amazing animal over the coming weeks.
Image credit: Ben Andrew (rspb-images)