Loads of badger activity. Is sow pregnant? 25th January 2026

This past week has seem some pretty foul weather. Mild, but with lots of rain, some very heavy and accompanied by high winds.

Badgers do not like heavy rain.

The freezing weather we had a couple of weeks ago, forced our badgers into a state of torpor - resting to conserve energy. Plus, it is very difficult to dig up worms through frozen ground. There were barely any sighting of the badgers. Plenty of rodent.

In fact my heart sank when I saw the number of triggers the trail cam that face the main sett entrance had. I was so surprised that of the 500+ triggers, 98% were caused by badger; both sow and boar.

They both came and went many times, entering the sett via the main entrance, and also crossing from one chamber to another. For some reason they didn't use the lower left entrance - unlike the previous week. I don't know if they used their upper left entrance as the trail cam didn't trigger - not sure is a faulty SD card or if the trail cam is dying or if I didn't turn it on properly.

The boar entertained a little bit of excavating, though he attacked the roof of the main entrance. It will collapse if he's not too careful.

I'm also unsure if the sow is pregnant or not. The boar attempted to mate, but she wasn't having anything to do with it. This 'might' mean she is pregnant and therefore not in season. On the other hand, she might have had a headache.

With the weather set to remain mild (i.e. average temperatures and no frost), but raining, we might see more of the badger this coming week.

This first video shows the longer thinner face of the sow. Boars tend to have chubbier faces.

Here's the boar, merrily digging the roof of the sett. It will collapse if he isn't careful. Daft animal.

Bit of anal rubbing and churring

A small squabble

I sometimes get the feeling that the sow rules the sett. Here she is, blocking the entrance to the sett. The boar declines to go in. They have squeezed past each other in the sett entrance in the past, but this time not only did the boar not go in, he lurked outside for some time, even when the sow exited the sett!

The timestamps on photos and videos showed the sow entered the sett via its main entrance, but does not exit. Yet here, later on, the sow is seen entering stage left. She didn't use the lower left entrance to exit the sett. She might have used the upper left entrance, but I can't tell as my trail cam didn't trigger. I suspect there is an entrance they use on the right of the main sett entrance, and possible a further entrance I have not yet discovered.

Here we have the boar, possibly having a little mini-excavation of the left chamber. The sow wasn't particularly impressed.

The boar appears to attempt to mate with the sow. She was not at all receptive. This leads me to suspect that she is pregnant. Though the boar does seem to believe she is in season.