Calmness returns. Roof hole now an entrance. Bedding brought in. 15th February 2026

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.