Excavation

It was just 18:15 when the badgers turned up today. I'm convinced they are a male and female just because of the sheer difference in size. Smudge is the size of an adult bulldog and yet Greedy in similar to a cat in size. Earlier in the week they seem to have got wind of what I assume is a rat hole at the end of the garden and gone digging. I hadn't realised they eat mice and rats but apparently so according to www.badgerland.co.uk. Here's a picture of their efforts:

Dirty badgers

The appearances have been like clockwork recently with Smudge and Greedy turning up exactly on dusk. Sometimes they boldly storm across the lawn, other times they run the perimeter around the pond and under the Mexican Blossom before attacking the peanuts. Not sure what they'd been up to at the weekend but they were both filthy, any of the normal white stripes being a light grey. Perhaps there'd been some extensive excavating of a new wing in the sett. The neighbourhood cat made an early appearance to chance his arm for a chunk of dog food but soon retreated when the badgers were in striking distance.

Testing time

Although badger viewing is becoming more difficult as the evenings get darker earlier (they visit just after 18:30 these days), it seems only fair to make things more interesting with some tests. The first one has been easy for them to solve and it has involved a plastic pet bowl being placed over the badger box, hiding the dog food. The first night one of them approached it very wearily and had a good sniff around before bluntly knocking the whole lot on its side and exposing the food. The second night there was no caution and the food bowl was flipped off in an instant. It's now got to the point that they are working on how to get the bowl off without dropping it in the badger box and slowing their feasting down. Must try harder with the tests.....

Beyond the badgers

So whilst the badgers continue to arrive around dusk they have competition in the shape of a neighbourhood cat who has realised there might be milk or dog food on offer, so it keeps chancing its paws. That said, there is little in the way of confrontation. Most of the time the badgers work on the peanuts until the cat's had its fill or the badgers get within a foot or so.

Badgers aside, yesterday saw a nice treat whilst out pruning the apple tree. In a moment of stillness the playful chirruping of Long Tailed Tits could be heard and before long there were skittering around the freshly chopped branches in search of bugs. They really are beautiful creatures up close, given such character by their outlandishly long tails. This viewing was then enhanced as two Goldcrests flitted around the fir tree. One or two have been witnessed in the past but never together and never at such close range. A beautiful moment in the garden.

Good neighbours

The badger's internal clocks have really moved dramatically over the past eight weeks and they now visit (or at least the greediest does) around 18:45. Most recently, when some leftover cereal and milk was put out with the usual dog food and peanuts, we observed one badger eating the dog food, one eating the peanuts and a local neighbourhood cat sat lapping up the milk. The three creatures completely ignored each other and there was no visible tension, just the three of them doing what they needed to do. The cat finished its milk, looked at the badgers and then sauntered away.