Just over two weeks ago, I set out a trail cam on an urban badger sett located under an 8x4 foot shed, in a back garden of a house on a large housing estate. Four days of footage were obtained before the badgers appeared to abandon the sett.

I don't think this is a main sett. I feel it is either an outlier or annex sett. Females can use these types of setts at this time of year. One reason is to get some peace and quiet, particularly from amorous males. Two badgers occupied the sett, and both were female.

The owner of the property did say that last year she had badgers under her shed (two adults and, subsequently, a cub) but they left round about May, only to return in October. This could fit in with female badgers using this sett to raise young or may have moved young into it (sows do move their cubs from chamber to chamber, or sett to sett), and that they may return later in the year.

However, it looks like foxes may take over the sett in the short term. Therefore, the owner may see fox cubs.

Firstly, here is a 3D scan of the urban badger sett, squeezed between the shed and a fence. You can click on the link and then view the model in full screen to see detail. I will be returning to add further photos to this model to better render the back corner of the fence to give better context to the topography of the sett.

On Sunday 22nd February, I took part in a badger sett survey with the Binfield badger group in a large area somewhere to the west of Newbury. On this occasion we were doing a re-survey to check on the condition of existing known and reported setts. This was a nice change from the depressing 'planning application' surveys of late, where we note the positions of any badger setts for areas that may have housing built on them.

I took this opportunity to do a test of getting 3D scans under field conditions, mainly to see if I could get good scans in one go, as it would prove difficult to return to add photographs to the model. This also means that scanning was done offline (the mobile I used does not have a SIM in it), and processing would take place when I got home and used our wi-fi for internet connection.

We'll kick off this 3D scan extravaganza with badger latrines. We came across two boundary latrines - an area with multiple latrines used to mark a territorial edge. I took a scan of each latrine (to see test wide angle scan capabilities of RealityScan) and one detail scan of a latrine.

Note: I had to take the scans quickly. The survey team were on a tight schedule, which meant no dawdling. I had to keep up.

Before moving on to badger sett 3D scans, I'll show you a scan of a bracket fungus. I would have liked to scan more of the tree branch this fungus is on, but the survey team had already moved on.

Now, on to the badger setts. We came across four badger setts. One was an outlier. Three were main setts. I took scans from two of the main setts: one which had about 6 entrances, the second was the largest sett complex ever found by the Binfield badger group with at least 68 entrances.

The first three scans are from the small sett complex. The remainder from the mega complex; where I experimented with more wide angle scans to get topographical information.

Finally, a paw print. We thought it was a badger paw print when we first saw it. However, on examining the scan closely, we decided that it was the print of a large dog, which had placed its hind paw on top of its front paw print, thus giving the impression of a badger paw print, complete with five toe/claw impressions.

Our British weather continues along its normal changeable manner as we progress through February. A brief, three day cold snap brought some welcome sunshine, but we're straight back into wet weather.  The cold snap didn't amount to much, certainly no frost, and our badger activity continued almost unabated.

Our sow has taken to using the sett hole roof, though it is a bit of a squeeze for her. She does seem to like taking a good pee when she emerges.

A cat visits this area quite frequently. It appears to be a rather large cat. Not on the scale of a Maine Coon cat, but it does seem on the large size. Here is a comparison of the cat and badger sow.

I haven't reviewed footage from two of my trail cams, so may post more from them. However, I do wish women walkers would stop using the main sett area to have a toilet break. I used felled branches to form a barricade between the sett area and footpath - it was very exposed before - only to find a couple of females decided to move the branches for one to get in.

I think she spotted the trail cams, and after a brief discussion with her friend (who remained on the path) decided to leave the sett area to find an alternative spot to relieve herself. I moved the branches back, yesterday, but will add to the barricade this Tuesday. There is a hidden clearing about 30m downhill from the sett, so hopefully the young lady managed to spend a penny.

​What our badgers have to put up with, eh?

Here is, to my mind, a rather dramatic 3D scan of  the hole in the roof of the sett. My suspicion is that this hole is in the roof of a sett tunnel.

What I find dramatic and useful about this scan is that only now can I appreciate the shape of the thing. I just do not see this even when standing over the hole.  Compare the scan with the photo I took of the hole with my much more capable Canon camera.

I took this scan in a hurry (less than 5 minutes0, early this morning. Conditions were quite cramped, as the hole was surrounded by trees. To make matters worse, the early morning sun would shine right down the mobile camera's lens flaring up any image when I held it vertically.  Even worse, was making sure I did NOT drop my mobile down the hole. I might not be able to retrieve it, or worse still one or more badgers may sink their teeth into my hand, as it dangles vertically down the hole, whilst I'm lying on my tummy.

I only needed 72 photos for this scan. I just clicked merrily away trying to cover all angles, including putting my mobile just in the top of the hole, hoping no angry badger would pop its head out.

I did think I might buy shares in battery manufacturers given how my trail cams were eating them as they took thousands of images and videos of our badgers.  Thankfully, the frenetic activity of last week has calmed down, and we're back to the typical number of triggers per week.

That being said...rodents. I figure there may be three or four mice/voles living either in Badger manor or very  close by. They account for about two thirds of triggers from my trail cams. May be I should buy those shares. However, I have invested in 1.5V 3000 mAh rechargeable batteries, which goes some why to lessening battery costs.

This past week has been wet to almost biblically wet. We did actually have two dry days: Friday and Saturday. Today, Sunday, sees heavy rain returning, before the possibility of a dry spell.  Aberdeen didn't get any sunshine of any sort for 21 days.

On Friday, the sow made two trips to drag in bedding from the field behind the sett. She uses the right hand chamber. I'm hoping the stuff was dry. It looks like straw, and I think the farmer who owns the field puts out straw for his animals.

Does this mean that our sow has given birth or is about to?

Now on to the hole in the sett roof. I still do not know if this hole was due to a collapse or if it was an attempt to dig another entrance or if it was caused by a badger digging down to get at worms. Regardless of which, I can say for certainty that it leads into the sett structure: whether a chamber or tunnel between chambers.

My trail cam did video the sow squeezing her way out of the entrance last week, and there is one photo showing her under the hole crossing from left to right. This leads me to suspect that three sett holes to the far right of the main sett entrance are actually all connected. In fact, one of the holes, directly at the base of a tree, has been dug recently.

It does not look like we'll be walking today. A large band of heavy rain is sweeping in from the west. You never know, though. If we walk, we'll do so in about 2 hours, and it is possible that the rain will die down.

I hope so, as I need to replenish the batteries on the trail cam pointing at the roof hole - they will expire sometime this week, especially given that there is an unusually active mouse around this hole.

Speaking of the hole, although it points directly upwards, it it under cover of evergreen trees. Hopefully, this means less rain water falling directly into it.  The boar may, at some point, decide to make this hole wider. He seems to do all the digging.

I decided it would be a neat idea to create 3D scans of the various sett entrances to Badger Manor.

I'm using RealityScan Mobile, and uploading to SketchFab for distribution. Both are free for non-profit organisations.

I'm learning how to use the applications, having loaded the former earlier this week. I'm figuring out where it is best used and how to take sufficient photos to get a decent model - though I am restricted to 300 photographs.

The resulting models are really good, given my beginner status and ancient cheap, budger Motorola smart phone.  I am looking into getting an application to edit the models so I can remove rubbish edge details.

I'll take further 3D models of the other sett entrances, particularly the new one to the right of the main sett entrance, plus the existing ones.

The images in this blog are courtesy of SketchFab's embedded code feature. It is possible to put a link to the model on SketchFab, but I prefer the embedded version as it keeps viewing simple.

To view the model in full screen mode, click on it, then click on the icon in the bottom right hand corner for full screen mode.

There is a help icon for viewing instructions, but they are the normal use 'left mouse button' or single finger to rotate, double click mouse button or two fingers to zoom, etc.

Let's kick off with the main sett front entrance. I didn't photograph right down the hole, to be rectified on next visit.

Now a model of the upper left sett entrance. This isn't terribly easy to get to and photograph, but I managed a it. I will have to return to this entrance to add further photos to fill out the missing bits. I suspect this will occur next week as it is due to rain heavily tomorrow morning, and we ain't traipsing up to the sett in the wet.

I noticed I didn't take a photo right down the sett entrance. However, this may be fortunate as you can see the entrance as if you were a badger coming out of the sett!

The updates just keep coming this week.

When I went to swap SD cards yesterday, I noticed a new hole had appeared to the right of the main sett entrance. The hole was odd. It didn't seem large enough for a badger entrance (more rabbit) and it seemed to go straight down. Luckily for me, the hole was on the far side of a tree I have to squeeze past on my way to the main sett area. I have no fear of making the hole worse.

After thinking about this for a day, and after taking a closer look this morning, I think the roof of a chamber to the right of the main entrance has collapsed partially. I'm not sure, but I have mentioned a couple of times that the boar seems to be attacking the roof of the main entrance, and if he keeps at it for long enough the thing will collapse.

Judge for yourselves. Sorry for the slightly out of focus video. I'm not sure why it is out of focus. The still that follows is in focus. I used the camera's flash to take it, which is why it appears so bright.

A friend of my partner told her that she had badgers living under her back garden shed, in the middle of a large housing estate. I immediately suggested contacting the Binfield Badger group to inform them of the active sett and ask if they were happy to monitor it. My partner's friend revealed she was a member of said group, had informed them sometime ago of the sett, suggested they might to monitor it, but never heard back from the group! How strange.

Anyway, I offered to set up a trail cam and monitor the sett. I didn't know my partner's friend, so left it to her to find out what her friend was happy to do monitoring wise. Her friend was happy for me to monitor the sett, so my partner and I trooped off to firstly review the sett's location and to determine suitable sites to place a trail cam.

I made a new trail cam stand out of scrap wood, and we duly traipsed back on Thursday to set  everything up.  We'll leave the trail cam running for a couple of weeks or three, before traipsing back to see what is revealed.

My partner's friend did reveal a very interesting piece of information to us. Her badgers upped sticks and abandoned their sett round about May of last year, and returned October of last year. This same behaviour happened with our badgers at Badger Manor. Whether the same badgers who left a sett returned to it is a different question.

​The larger question is, where did these badgers go over summer?

I'm still trying to make sense of the footage I have.  The trail cams shot between five to 8 weeks worth over 4 1/2 days!!!! No wonder my trail cams ran out of charge.

Anyway, the danger in reviewing the footage is to anthropomorphise the badgers' behaviour. What look suspiciously like rape is in actual fact normal badger behaviour. The mating looks particularly brutal, but it's normal.

On many occasions a sow will see off a boar, chasing him out of the main sett area.

I still can't work out how many boars and sows there are. The main sett is used by our original boar and sow. But I sometimes get the feeling that other sows and boars visit the main sett. Could this be the beginning of a super sett?

Anyway, footage appear at the end of this entry.

These next bits from earlier

I found that there were a further 2000 images from a trail cam that faced the front of the main sett entrance. A review of the first 2000 revealed what was happening at Badger Manor this past week. A frenzied bout of mating by the boar. My god, they keep at it for ages. I think the poor sow was getting tired out. She would disappear or run away for a bit, while the boar searches frantically for her.

Now I saw this same behaviour last year, at approximately the same time - though I think earlier in January. The sow didn't produce cubs, she appeared to be young, possibly less than a year old, thus probably wasn't ready to implant.

So, does this year's slightly later period of mating, where the sow appears in season, mean that she has given birth to cubs. Time, as they say, will tell. April to May will reveal the answer.

I'll keep the text below as a record of how this week's story unfolds.

This teaser continues, I'm afraid. I started reviewing footage from last week with the knowledge that one trail cam had run out of charge - which I expected. It took me some time to realise that the trail cam in question had been triggered almost 750 times before it ran out of juice! It ran out on Wednesday - I swap SD cards on a Saturday, normally.

So now I am copying 2000 files off one SD card. Noticed I had 1000 images from the week before to process, and will have to check the other SD cards from the other trail cams to see if they have had similar number of triggers.

I can't really work out what is going on, but suspect a couple of other badgers may be visiting the sett and possibly attempting to either join our existing pair or to oust them. Though it may simply be that our existing pair have been extremely active during the unusually warm, albeit damp, spell we've been experiencing.

A teaser whilst I try and make sense of the mountain of photos and videos gathered this past week.

I can't really tell what is happening at Badger Manor: whether it is good, bad or normal.  More will follow as I try and make sense of the images.

We'll start footage from here. I noticed that sometimes mating would go on until quite late in the morning, with the sun up. Here is a rare day time video. Sorry for the quality of the trail cam's imagery. The trail cam has been out for almost a year.

This video happened a little after almost an hour of mating! The sow sees off the boar, or at least sees him off the property.

In this video, a boar comes a courting. He does so by churring away, hoping to entice the sow out.

But then, for whatever reason, the sow chases off the boar. This happens on numerous occasions throughout the week. As a human, you think the boar is forcing himself on the sow, but then get an almighty surprise when the sow sees off the much larger boar.

I think a boar has come to the main sett entrance to see if a sow is in there. Then, for some reason, he goes to the left of the main sett and churrs away in his 'mating' call. Next thing we see is him flying out of the sett area at a rate of knots.

I am not sure if a boar comes out of the sett or a sow. In any case, the badger follows the boar, presumably to see him off the premises.

Regular readers may notice that I keep updating this post. Well, not only has rather a lot been happening (I have had to plough through almost 5000 pieces of imagery), but I am also limited to 10 uploads a day to youtube - that's 10 in any 24 hour period, not 10 each calendar day.

Anyway, in this video, I am not sure whether our sow is seeing off a boar or another sow.

Action now switches to the lower left sett entrance. All three entrances I have trail cams on showed a lot of action.

​We start with a boar (I think) churring away hoping to entice the sow out.

All three sett entrances I know about were in use this week. I can't work out if our sow is using all three in attempt to avoid an amorous boar or more, or do we have one or more other sows investigating the area.

In this video, it appears as if a boar is exiting this sett hole, but I'm not sure. It's head suggests a boar, but its body does not exhibit the massive size of our normal boar.

My usual setup for a trail cam is for it to take 3 photos and a video. The reason for this is that trail cams take roughly .5 seconds to go from triggering to photographing, but as much as 3 seconds to go from triggering to videoing. All action can be missed if I simply set my trail cams to videoing.

Unfortunately, my Bargarbou trail cams buck the trend of taking photos first and then videos. Thus, I am not sure how much action they miss.

However, I have an Usogood trail cam trained on the lower left sett. This, otherwise useless trail cam, does at least take photos first before videoing. Thus, it was able to capture this sequence before videoing. By the time its videoing kicked in, both badgers had disappeared!! They charged off to the right of this video. All it got was some small Holly twigs swaying too and fro, having been disturbed by the badgers flight.

I think this is an amorous boar trying to mate with a sow. Conversely it may be two sows fighting. The key point is that animal interaction can take place so fast, it may be missed by an incorrectly set up trail cam

We continue this mega update by shifting to the upper left sett entrance. Very little tends to happen up here. A badger will occasionally pass through or use the sett entrance.

This week, however, there was a lot of activity. I can't work out if some of this activity is due to our sow avoiding the amorous intentions of one or more boars, or if our sow is seeing off another sow.

In this first video, we see that a sow has been spooked by something to the right of this video. What cannot be determined is if this is our incumbent sow running away from an amorous boar or if this sow is an interloper being seen off by our incumbent sow.

Moving to the next interaction, I can't work out if there are two sows here. One sow, who's back we  only see, appears to move away to our left, when another sow appears suddenly to the right with body language suggesting she is after something.  Alternatively, it could simply be the first badger turning through 180 degrees underneath and behind the trail cam.

Again, another indeterminate piece of action. Do we have two sows here?

In these final two videos, we see a badger using the upper left sett entrances. I wonder if it could be our incumbent so trying to avoid an amorous boar. Though it could be a new sow looking for a sett. I am more inclined to believe the former explanation.

A rather eventful week of footage, though in a good sense.

Our weather this week has been a usual mixture of rain, frost, heavy rain, mild temperatures, and yet more rain. Our badgers at Badger Manor have been reasonably active through all of this, and getting up to some curious behaviours. Quite a lot of baffling behaviours, such that I will split this latest update across a number of days.

However, firstly Roe deer. I've had an unusual pile of Roe deer. Two females and one male entered the main sett area. With superb timing, we have this encounter between our female badger and a roe deer.

Matters get even more interesting when this encounter is viewed from a trail cam set up behind the main sett entrance.

A couple or so minutes earlier, we have a Roe deer pile up...

...where one takes a keen interest in a trail cam.

That's all for this update. I promise badgers next.