Arising phoenix like from the ashes of the late RSPB community forums comes Badger Watch.

​A little history. My other half and I take a three mile walk most every morning along country paths around where we live: somewhere near Wokingham. We've often seen interesting holes in one bank along a small section of path. I even put a trail cam out a few years ago and saw badgers walking through the area. The trail cam also revealed plenty of rabbits.

I had always assumed the holes in the bank were caused by rabbits, as they appeared too small to be badger setts. Until, one day, I realised there were signs of bedding (straw) being dragged into a sett hole.

Out went a trail cam, which almost immediately picked up photos and videos of a badger. A few weeks passed and it soon became evident there were more than one badgers present. Finally, my trail cam filmed to badgers (christened Scratch (male) and Scrawny Tail (female) mating. This went on for a week and a half, and then stopped.

Since then, there have been no further signs of mating, but plenty of grooming, anal rubbing, play fighting, rough and tumble, and other activities pertaining to a couple bonding. Of late, there has been even more signs of the female gathering bedding (straw), as much as two or three times a week, but mostly once. 

More posts will follow as I start using this blog, and finish my long running landscaping of our garden.

I decided that as we pass the sett on our Sunday walk, I'd take the opportunity to swap out two SD cards. One was from an UsoGood. It is a particularly useless trail cam, an example of how not to design a trail cam. Last week's SD card held no imagery at all. It's possible I didn't turn on the machine properly, or perhaps the card is somehow suspect.

The second was from the trail cam facing the front of the main sett entrance. I wanted to see if any badger exited the sett since Friday.

Well, the UsoGood SD card showed a badger having a go at digging out the lower left sett entrance. I believe it is a boar. Whether it is the incumbent boar or an interloper is anyone's guess. He didn't have much of a go at the hole. Sloppy work!

'm not sure where he went after digging the hole as this would be recorded on one of the other trail cams and I didn't swap the SD cards. Yes, I did swap out one of the cards, but it faces the main entrance, and would not have picked up this badger had it turned left and gone on to the footpath.

Here we have the bane of my life. My trail cams have captured endless footage and photographs of a mouse charging in and out of the sett entrances: lower left, upper left and main. This particular video simply winds me up. Two bleedin' mice!

Just my luck they turn out to be a breeding couple, and I'll end up with hundreds of the wee beasties.

Back to the main sett entrance. I believe that this is the sow exiting the main sett for the first time in ages. I'm not 100% sure, but this badger appears to have a longer, thin face. Although not up to her normal extremely nervous exit, this badger did show a degree of caution leaving the sett.

Once again, there is no footage of this badger returning, but I am convinced there is more than one entrance to this sett.

Finally. I believe this is a board, and is the one digging out the lower left sett entrance. It often heads left after visiting this main sett entrance, which kind of leads me to believe he is our original, incumbent boar. Notice that his face, particularly his white cheeks are much rounded than the badger above.

I remain cautiously optimistic we'll see more badger activity this coming week. There was no frost this morning, though the temperature did drop to -4C around here at 23:00 last night, and we can look forward to temperatures as high as 12C next week. Less rain, but a little frost on Wednesday.

​We saw a lot more badger sign this morning, in keeping with the warmer weather.

A badger has appeared in the main sett area of Badger Manor. A couple of times, it is seen to sniff the main sett entrance then head hurriedly either to the left of the entrance or out on to the adjoining footpath.

One night, a badger enters the main sett entrance, pauses at the mouth of the right chamber, then heads out of the sett. Has the chamber experienced a collapse?

Finally, on the very early of Friday morning, like just after midnight, a badger enters the main sett entrance, goes into the right chamber, then a minute later crosses over into the left chamber. None of my trail cams capture the badger leaving the main sett. Hmmmm.

Has the sow commandeered the right chamber and is not allowing the boar into it? This could indicate she is pregnant and has reserved the right chamber for herself.

Is the badger investigating a potential new sett or itself?

Is it our boar who did one of his flying visits, crossed over to the left chamber then exited either back through the main entrance whilst my trail cam 'slept' for 30 seconds or exited through an opening I have not found?

Who knows.

What is known is the weather this past week. It has been foul, with an overriding theme of cold to very cold. We had snowfall on a couple of days. Then storm Goretti sauntered through, dumping large quantities of rain over a 15 hour period, before icy conditions returned.

In these conditions, with rock hard ground making it difficult to get at food, freezing temperatures, and then cold rain, badgers (especially pregnant females) would go into a state of torpor to conserve energy.

Whilst on our daily morning walk, I did see remarkably little badger activity around the area during either foul rainy weather or when the ground was frozen rock solid. Only towards the end of the week, when there was a little thaw, was there sign of badger activity around the area.

I was hoping to bring better news for the first update of 2026. Instead, I have a worrying few days.

A quick update, before a more providing more details later on.

I have not seen any badger since 23:30 on Wednesday 31st December. There are two possible reasons, that are possibly intertwined.

1. 31st December was new years eve. A huge number of very noisy fireworks were set off during the evening of the 31st, reaching a crescendo between 23:00 and 1:00am on the 1st January. The early starters not understand the meaning of fireworks on this date, and the late starters also missing the point a little.

2. We've had a cold snap. New Years eve onward has been particularly cold, with temperatures at our house dropping to -3.3C. It is possible that the badgers, most particularly the sow, have decided to enter a state or torpor i.e. semi-hibernation to both save energy during the cold snap, and possibly being a little concerned about all the noise. The fireworks were generally of the noisy, exploding type.

After reviewing the footage captured last week, and visiting the sett to change the SD card on one trail cam, I can safely say the badgers were frightened by the fireworks. It is possible they have also decided to stay in their sett in a state of torpor whilst this cold snap lasts. We'll find out next week as the cold snap is supposed to end this Wednesday, sort of.

Here is one of our badgers obviously concerned about fireworks going off. They are very loud fireworks. I feel our badgers were also concerned about the amount of dogs barking and humans talking/laughing, etc

Switching to a trail cam on the front of the sett. The first video shows a very concerned badger. You can hear the fireworks going off.

The second video shows the last view I have of a badger; heading into the left chamber. Now, I believe there are sett entrances on the left of the main entrance, but trail cams on them showed no badger using them to exit by. There is also a sett entrance to the right of the main entrance, but it is almost impossible for me to train a trail cam on it without the trail cam being exposed to nimble fingers. Therefore I have no idea if the badgers exited and entered by it.

With no other footage since New Years eve, I can only assume that either the badger has stayed asleep in the left chamber, or there is a sett entrance on the left which is unaccounted for.

Before the fireworks disturbed our badgers, they were up to normal badgery matters. The sow brought in huge quantities of bedding. They had a bout of anal rubbing and an attempt at mating. If the sow choses to implant now, then theoretically we can look forward to a late February birth.

There was also a lot of grooming, and an interesting feature is one or both badgers like grooming just inside the main sett entrance. I've seen this behaviour quite a bit.

In what is likely to be the last update of 2025, I have found two sett entrances left of the main sett entrance. We'll call these Upper left and Lower left.
Upper left is in use; I've had a trail cam on it for a week.

We've known of Lower left for some months, but it never seemed in use. About three days ago, we noticed that it had been dug out. I managed to get a trail cam on it today.

I put my ancient Apeman onto the Upper left hole, as I wasn't 100% sure it was in use. Although the trail cam has appalling resolution, it does keep chugging on when other trail cams have failed, and it does sufficiently well to show badgers entering and leaving the Upper left hole.

Like this. I've no idea what the boar thought he was doing with the sow.

A minute later, the sow pushes her way out. The main sett is way to the right of this entrance. I reckon there is at least one chamber between this hole and the main entrance.

Sadly, I only fitted a 4GB SD card into my Apeman trail cam, which then filled up quickly. This meant it missed three days of action. Which is a shame, as there are signs the badgers did further digging of this entrance as well as bringing in bedding.

The main sett entrance was a hive of activity this past week. Both badgers engaged in extensive excavations of this entrance, and I believe the female brought in huge amounts of bedding. I'm not sure where this bedding is going. The main sett (to the right of the main entrance) must be getting pretty full.

By the looks of things, I believe that while both badgers appear to be using the right chamber, it's possible the sow is reserving it for herself and any future brood. This might explain the excavations around the left entrance - chambers need clearing out for the boar.

My only slight concern is that once again there appears to be no sightings of the boar since about 25th of December i.e. Christmas day. However, it is getting slightly more difficult to tell the two animals apart, as the sow appears to have put on weight and/or grown. I can just about tell them apart when they enter the sett entrance - the boar fills it.  The other reason for not seeing the boar for a day or two is that there are the two other entrances he can use.

Now for a bit of fun. The boar crashed out after extensive excavations. I must admit I've never seen a badger do this befor.

Not a huge amount happening at Badger Manor, which is just as well. Two badgers (possibly Itchy and Scrawny tail) still in residence.

I did put a trail cam out on, what I hope is, a side entrance to the sett complex. It was a little bit tricky negotiating brambles to insert a post and hammer it in place. The recent wet weather softened the soil, making hammering easy. I've put an old trail cam (an ancient Apeman) out. It's video and photographic capabilities are abysmal, but sufficient for the task of seeing whether the hole I have it pointing at is, indeed, an entrance to the sett complex.

I did think of putting an UsoGood trail cam here, but didn't. The UsoGood trail cam is an exercise in how NOT to design such a beast. The most annoying aspect of this camera is the codex it uses to form video files isn't really recognised by Windows software, or where an application does make an attempt at playing a video file formed by these trail cams then it simply screws up the graphics of my laptop, and I have to cold boot the thing.

I think I have formulated a plan to put a trail cam out on the right hand set entrance. It involves building a screen of branches and foliage cut down when contractors cleared the footpath.

Armed with a pair of secateurs and wearing tough old walking boots, I ventured into the undergrowth to the left of the main sett entrance to Badger Manor. Old bramble canes, with the odd new one, fell to my secateurs.

I walked past a low badger sett entrance, which I'd known about for some time but discounted as unused, ploughing up a hill, and espied what looked like a badger sett entrance against a fence behind Badger Manor. A further clipping and removal of old and new bramble canes, I feel I have found an active sett entrance to the left of the main entrance.

What appeared to be straw, hay or straw was strewn about the front of the hole. While the downward slope looked reasonably clear, as if the hole was being used actively. The hole itself is about 3m from the main sett entrance. Close enough to either dig a connecting tunnel or, hopefully, a chamber. A holly tree would provide lots of roots to support the chamber, while the hole is less accessible from the footpath.  I hope to move some branches around to make it even less accessible - or seem that way from the footpath. Afterall, I need to get to it to swap SD cards!

A nice feature of where the hole is placed is that it should be relatively easy to put a trail cam out on it, while keeping the trail cam reasonably well hidden from the footpath. Only the most observant of souls would see it, and only the most persistent will want to manouevre their way through the undergrowth to it.

Now all I have to do is get a trail cam onto the hole. Hmm, not sure when. It's supposed to rain a lot over the next week. Sigh.

I was getting rather concerned as I reviewed footage from Badger Manor this last week. One badger came through the area on 7th and 8th of November. No badger went in or out of the sett main sett entrance.

Finally, on the 9th did a badger appear in the main sett. It was the female. All she did was cross from the left to the right of the sett. I am supposing going from a left chamber to a right chamber. A few seconds later she passed from the right to the left.

The lack of footage of a badger using the main sett entrance, and the female seen to pass from left to right and back again, reinforces my theory that there is a chamber and entrance to the left of this main entrance. 

This would make sense to me. This main entrance is quite exposed to the path which runs across it. An entrance to the left is much more hidden, sheltered and difficult for  human to get to.

After the female's little jaunt on Tuesday 9th November, there were no more badger sightings until Friday 12th November. When a badger investigated the main sett entrance, but didn't go in.

However, later on our female badger made her usual cautious exit, then promptly turned around and disappeared back into the sett, turning left in the process. This is contrary to their normal habit uptil now.

Once again, there were no badger sightings either going in or exiting the main sett entrance until the early morning of Saturday 13th November. A badger (male by its size) enters the main sett entrance, and a minute or two later both badgers are seen. They hang around a while, have a bit of anal rubbing (nothing too vigorous, you realise) and off they went to the left, where I think there is a sett entrance.

Oh, well. It looks like I may have a little bit of an unpleasant time tomorrow entrance as I try and hunt for a sett entrance to the left of the main sett. It's rather overgrown in this area, and tricky for a human to get through.

I do know where one sett hole is, but it doesn't really look as if it has been used.  There is another entrance some ten yards from the main sett, but I haven't seen a badger use it. Sods law says this latter entrance is the one I am looking for. Only, I removed a trail cam from it a couple of weeks ago, in the belief that nothing was happening there.

Other animals using the area in front of the main sett entrance this week include foxes, Muntac and Roe deer, Grey squirrels, mouse caching nuts in the sett,  a robin and a Nuthatch.

Here is a Grey squirrel caching a nut in the side of the main set entrance.

Now a Nuthatch. This is the third time this Nuthatch has visited this area in a couple of weeks.

Our two badgers are still here, enduring the wild, wet and changeable weather we've experienced this week: mild, dry, very wet, torrential rain, freezing, frost, high winds, etc. Only snow and hail remain to happen.

After two weeks of frantic activity scraping bedding into the sett, our female badger has slowed down this week and only made one foray. However, with the possibility of sett entrances to the left of the main entrance, it is possible that she did forays via that one. More on this later. I have a suspicion that there are one or more chambers to the left of the main entrance.

A mouse shares the sett with our badgers. It has been exceedingly busy, charging out of the sett, scurrying across the footpath, and back again. No doubts getting food and caching it.

I feel it is a little safer than of late. Only one visit by a large cat (which can clog up my trail cams  by hanging around and causing it to trigger hundreds of times), and no sign of foxes.

My trail cams reveal more evidence of  an entrance to the left of the main entrance or if not an entrance, then a chamber, or both perhaps. In this first video, you'll just glimpse a badger (probably the female moving straw from the left to the right of the main entrance. She did several movements from left to right and back again over the week.

I could be wrong, but this is the first week where our badgers indulged in an extended grooming session.  The size differences between the boar and sow are very evident in these videos.

What has been lacking since our badgers returned is any anal rubbing. Very odd.

I am now convinced that the main sett complex has more than one entrance, and possibly has at least two chambers. Having more than two entrances (and exits) explains where I see badgers leaving during the evening or night, not returning the next morning, but exiting the sett in the evening.

The evidence for more than one chamber is a little weak. In this next video, a badger is seen to go from a chamber on the right, across the main sett entrance,  and disappear to the left. It is possible that there is no chamber on the left, and the badger is simply using a long tunnel to get to an entrance on the left of the sett complex.  I have found an entrance on the left, but it is about 15-20 feet from the main entrance.

Also, I have not seen a badger moving bedding to the left of and via the main entrance. All bedding goes to the right. However, I have occasionally seen (twice in a year) seen a badger moving bedding to the far left of this main entrance. Hmm, me thinks time to try and get a trail cam on the left of the main entrance.

Now for cute videos. Badger bringing in bedding, one of five loads. This on top of twelve loads last week.  Then a bit of a push and shove for our pair of badgers to exit the sett.

Badger setts can be magnets for many animals, in part due to the clearing badgers form in and around their setts. Deer tend to enter this area as they think they can get through to a field behind the sett. In this case a Muntjac.

A first is a male pheasant entering this area.