Badger tracks
You may recall that I dealt with a roadkill badger a couple of weeks ago. I was concerned that the badger had been killed next to a field that forms part of my usual Sunday morning tracking/ birdwatching walk, and I hoped that the dead badger wasn’t the one that I had become accustomed to tracking.
Well, I went for my usual Sunday walk this morning, and I’m pleased to say that the badger is alive and well and still making tracks.
Tracking really is a fascinating activity. I spent an hour totally absorbed by the animal tracks in a hundred yards of footpath up one single field. Over the last 24 hours a badger, a fox, several Chinese Water Deer and a small herd of fallow deer had all walked up this path. It was a tracker’s heaven!
We’ve had a combination of rain showers and sunshine recently, so the normally hard-packed clay in this field is soft in places, but still firm in others. Many of the tracks showed up only as smudges in the fine silt on top of the clay. In a strange way it is more satisfying to find and follow these faint images.
Here’s another set of badger tracks. Note the claws on the front paw on the right.
Here’s where the fox and badger walked side by side (actually, the fox was there first – on the next set of prints I found that the badger’s track overlay the fox’s)
The badger’s front paw print is on the top left, its rear paw on the bottom left and the fox on the right.
Who would have thought that a short stretch of path could prove so interesting – and so informative. If you’ve never tried tracking then give it a go next time you’re out and about. It really does add an extra dimension to your knowledge of the wildlife in your area. And it’s great fun too!
Tales from the Wood - The Diary of a Badger Watching Man 
That’s a great find, a badger print next to fox print- an excellent illustration of both prints in the wild. It’s interesting to note how much you can deduce from tracking as well, (the fox was there first).
I watched one of these survival specialist programs (not BEAR GRYLLS, the other guy whose name escapes me) and it featured game wardens tracking a couple of humans on a reserve in Africa. It was fascinating what they could deduce from the trail and yes, they found them quite easily.
Glad it wasn’t your Brock that was killed. I’ve noticed an increase in badger road kill these last few weeks on a six mile stretch of road between my home and work.
Cheers,
John
Thanks John
The tracking really is fascinating. I’ve really become hooked. It makes an ordinary walk into a detective story. I’m still a novice though. I’m in awe of really good trackers who can do this sort of thing almost instinctively.
I think the badger that was killed must have been from the same sett as the one I track. This is the odd thing – I’ve never seen these particular badgers and I don’t know exactly where the sett is, but I’ve got a reasonable idea of their nightly movements from following their tracks over the past months. That’s the extra dimension that tracking gives.
Of course, if I was a proper tracker I’d have taken one look at the dead badger and realised its feet didn’t match the tracks. Jim Corbett could instantly tell individual tigers and leopards apart by their tracks, but I’ve got to get some serious practice in before I reach that level.
Mind you, there is one thing I should do, and that is to start taking measurements of the badger tracks – foot width, stride length etc. After a while I should be able to recognise it. I need to stop being lazy and get out the tape measure!
it is so nice to read good badger news & it must be said you really get some fabulous prints…
Thanks Spiney – yes, it is nice to have good news. I hope things are going well up north too!