After all this high-level, scientific badgerology I felt the need to get back down to earth. On Sunday I took Scarlett on her first trip to see a badger sett. I also wanted the chance to see how they are doing after the cold weather and whether they are preparing for spring. Donning the baby carrier and camouflage umbrella I set off into the drizzle.
Now, I had planned to turn this trip into a photo-guide on what to look for at a badger sett, as a guide to people who want to know if they’ve got badgers in their local area. Unfortunately, after snapping pictures of everything in sight – holes, paths, dung pits etc – I got home to find that my camera settings had mysteriously changed and none of the pictures I took show anything at all. Damn it.
Never mind. It gives me an excuse to go back next week. Scarlett enjoys these walks, and I do to. For the record I can say that the badgers seemed to be positively thriving. The dung pits were all full, showing a lot of feeding. The sett was very active, with no fewer than six of the holes showing significant signs of fresh digging and tracks. This is a good sign, as sow badgers will take up residence in their own part of the sett to give birth and rear their young, so at least one or two of these holes are probably ‘maternity suites’.
Stay tuned for next week, when I’ll hopefully be back with a fully-illustrated guide to badger setts.
Tales from the Wood - The Diary of a Badger Watching Man 
Hi Badgerman,
It’s me again, Can i ask, If i were to go to the set around the late March, would the badgers be coming out a little before dark? What would the chances be of seeing them? And do you have any tips for me watching them around March time? If you do that would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Kristian
Hi Kristian
I don’t know if I’ve been out watching in March. According to my records (and this is exactly why I started this diary – so I can check these things) the first time I went to the sett in the last couple of years was in mid-April. See https://badgerwatcher.com/2009/04/10/fieldnotes-10th-april-2009-back-amongst-the-badgers/
On that visit the badgers came out at 8.20pm and it was light enough to see them then. Late March shouldn’t be too different. A quick search of the interweb shows sunset to be about 7.30pm at the end of March, which means on a clear evening it should be light until 8.00 or 8.15at least. Neal and Cheeseman, the bible of badgers, gives typical times of emergence in March as between 7.30 and 8.30pm. So yes, it should be possible.
Be ready to go home in the dark, but you should hopefully get a look at them before the light fades altogether. The only tip I’ve got is to dress up warm. My usual problem is that I go out dressed for a warm spring day and I forget just how cold it gets when the sun goes down. Otherwise the normal badger watching rules apply. Mind you, if I recall you were out watching in the snow and ice, so perhaps you’re a bit tougher than me…