Tag: badger

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I have put five new photographs on the Photo Page…

I have put five new photographs on the Photo Page, starting from the first photograph. The First three are from Jacqui and the fourth and fifth are from Elsie. There are a few that have been sent in that will put on over the next few days.

One of the large flock of Parquets that fly around the area called in for a snack. Not sure what species of bat this was but it was emerging from the roof of our holiday cottage last August in Devon. My two dogs Sisco (the cocker spaniel) and Ally (the lab named because he was found abandoned in an ally only 3 months old in early January!) Regards, Jacqui

Max was a little devil when he was a puppy and was into mischief all the time. He fell in the pond on may occasions. Also an interesting Robin story from a Newspaper. Elsie.

I don’t know about you, but I definitely ate and drunk to much over the past three days. I would have liked to have sat down for a bit longer, although we had less work to do with the Horses this year than any other, being able to have them turned out. The main Badger camera decided to stop working, so a lot of yesterday and today was spent changing the camera over. The rain got into the camera on Christmas eve. With the new tower it as easy to get it dry and it worked fine. Yesterday when I was controlling it suddenly wouldn’t move. Last week I talked a Tree Surgeon who was pruning some trees under the power cables, to take the old camera down from the telegraph pole that we used before we got the new tower. When he was up the thirty foot pole he did say that he didn’t feel very safe up it. I put the old camera up, but I didn’t have a bracket for it, so I needed to do major alterations to get the camera up. After seeing the picture I am pleased I did. The camera I took down was a different type than I usually use, and I wasn’t best pleased with it.

Every year about this time the Buzzards start to mark out their territory in this area. For the past few days we have seen three pairs flying above the farm seeing who can make the most noise. As the weeks pass we usually see many more pairs. I remember one year there were fourteen pairs flying above the Farm. That was the year when one of the pairs kept landing in Smugglers field. I thought it strange at the time. One of the pair was very small and it looked weak. One morning when I walked around the lake I found the Buzzard in a shallow part of the water. We dried it off and away it flew off. The next morning it was in the same place but wasn’t able to fly. We took it to West Hatch RSPCA, where they have a wildlife hospital. If it had survived they would have released back at Denbury, but it never did return.

It was good to see the Deer in the valley this evening. There is always a chance that they will be shot this time of year. For the past two days there has been continuous shooting in the area, and it will carry on until New Years day. The pair of Deer have been coming and going for most of the year. It is a Roe Doe and her Kid. There was a good chance that they went up to the Badger feeding area last night that Camera Two was on, as I saw Deer foot prints leading up to the area this morning when I filled the Bird feeders. I don’t like leaving that camera on because of the Rats, but I will tonight as there is a good chance that the Deer found the Badger food, and they may well return tonight on the chance that there may be more food.

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There are two new photographs on the photo page The…

There are two new photographs on the photo page. The Ponies from the New Forest in Hampshire was emailed from Elsie and the Moorhen was sent in by Vicky from Derby.

Elaine and Sue, it did look a little like the Badgers were mating this evening, but they were actually playing. They must have been trying to grab hold of each others rear legs. I have got a long recording of a mating session that took place last year on the feeding place on camera one. It is on a hard disc that I have taken out of a CTV digital recorder. If I can get some one to put it on to a disc, I will show it on the the site. I have a new machine that is a lot easier to work than my last one. There is a few good recording on it, but it is finding time to download .

Robin I didn’t approve your forum entry on Sunday, as at the bottom of the page, in one of links that you gave, were links to a holiday site, that offered Holidays as we do. I am sure that you didn’t realise, and that you will understand. The other link was www.badgers.org.uk/badgerpages/eurasian-badger-64.html The link will take you to the Badger Trust for information on Badger, as Robin was giving in his forum entry.

I must admit the Badger Trust would not be my favorite organisation. In my opinion they do not use the best resources to portray the Badger. Anyone who watches our webcams are able to see the Badgers as they are. Playing as a family group is appealing. One picture is worth a thousand words, the Badger Trust don’t think so. We offered the Trust a link to our webcams to let more people see Badger in real life. They used the link for a few weeks to promote Badger Day a couple of years back. Removing the link immediately after. I am sure a link would have benefited the Badgers, and a reciprocal link would get more of our visitors linking to the Trusts site. Obviously the Trust didn’t think so.

Today we managed to get the most of the equipment up for the camera in the barn to watch the Sheep, hopefully when they are lambing. There is a little more work to do and we will show it on the site. We have decided t put up another pen next to the Sheep to Stable Willow when she is weaned. The new camera will also be able to see Willow and the new Foal. We are not going to wean her until next week when the new Filly Foal arrives. The new Foal that is coming is being weaned today. She will need the company as well as Willow.

Over the past two days the infra-red lamps to show the far end of the valley were installed. At the moment they are a bit of a disaster, just a very small bright areas in and around the trees. I hope that it is just a case of adjusting, although it could be that the beam is the wrong angle, that will mean having to get new lamps.

The aggravation the remote Duck is giving me, it wont be called Daffy or Donald. Its been called a few choice names that I couldn’t repeat as it is. If it sinks, Titanic would be appropriate.

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I had thought that after the Government s Independent Scientific…

I had thought that after the Government’s Independent Scientific Groups report in June, that call for a Badger Cull had been put to bed once and for all. I expected the NFU to have their normal whinge, to try to show that they are an effective force in UK Farming. They haven’t been that for a few years now. Their membership mainly comes from a large number of people who insure with them.

Today’s announcement by Sir David King the Government’s Chief Scientist, that Badgers should be killed to stop the spread of TB in Cattle, is not based on any new scientific evidence, just the five so called well respected experts, accessing the the Independent Report that a Badger Cull would need to be extensive, that would cause it to be an over expensive option, with no guarantees that it would stop the spread of Bovine TB. The immediate areas of a Cull showed a drop in the incidents of the disease, but it moved the disease to adjoining areas. It seems very much like that our Chief Scientist is being nobbled. And what else do you reckon that he has suggested. Any Culls should be in areas ringed by Motorways, this would stop any Badgers from escaping the Culling areas. It would be a good idea if the Government advertised for a new Chief Scientist.

Professor John Bourne the Author of the Independent Scientific Groups report himself seems to agree, going by the report that I have read. Quote, Professor John Bourne, author of the ISG report, said Sir David’s recommendations were not consistent with the scientific findings of his report but were “consistent with the political need to do something about it”. Make you wonder, I would say.

Cattle based controls that need for Cattle to be tested for Bovine TB before any movement, are reducing the incidents of the disease, after the short time that it has been in force. That should continue to see if it does make significant improvement, before any Cull is considered. That is if any one has a right to decimate our wildlife for a few shillings.

Diary farming in the UK is in decline, and will become more so with the UK Supermarket importing more of their milk from Europe and beyond. The biggest decline was when in the 1990’s large numbers of Dairy farmers took massive Government subsidies to stop producing milk. Nothing to do with TB, that they did very well out off, by the payments that they received for TB infected cattle, far in access for what the Cattle were worth.

Out of 47000 people who were asked if they would agree to a Badger Cull, 95% said no. The Badger is an important part of our wildlife and should never be Culled, unless it was a threat to our lives.

Janet, joining a Local Badger Group will give you the opportunity to get involved in Badgers and let you know what part you can be involved in, if a Cull does go ahead. If significant numbers of people lobby their local MP’s they will realise what the people feel about the Culling of the Badgers and make representation to Hilary Benn the Minister for The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or you could all write to him yourself.

Elsie, There are eleven Sheep, the one that died was not one of the group that you can see on the webcams.

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I finally spoke to Veterinary about Woody this morning The…

I finally spoke to Veterinary about Woody this morning. The blood samples taken some weeks ago were looked at again, they showed very little to what is the cause of Woody’s problems. There were small signs of worm infestation, but it would not be uncommon to find that. Our Horses are regularly wormed. The most likely cause of her illness and loss of weight is that she has a cancer of some sort. Unfortunately to pinpoint it is virtually impossible and inoperable if you do find it. Further blood tests could be taken, but other than showing more accurate results on worm infestation they would be of little use. I will re worm her, if that is the problem she would soon gain weight. I wont take any drastic action unless I believe she is suffering. We will see how she goes through the summer before making any final decision.

Elsie on today’s forum brought up the subject of the Badger cull and the findings of a cull in the Republic of Ireland, that ended in 2002. I have not read the report, only what was on News 24. It seems that there may have been an increase in the amount of cattle needing to be slaughtered, in areas that Badgers has been virtually exterminated.

There is so much conflicting evidence on the cause of Bovine TB, that you really don’t know what to believe. Recent evidence suggests that cattle infect Badgers with the disease. Until recently cattle had free movement around the country. Unknown to either the seller or the purchaser, infected Cattle were transported to Bovine TB free area, subsequently incidents of TB were then found in those areas. Now Cattle have to be tested before they are allowed to be moved, since the testing Bovine TB has in most areas dramatically decreased. That must prove something.

My biggest concern is how the NFU is conducting their call for a cull. Farmers do have problems with Badgers. They cause damage to fields and the tunnels of the Badger setts do at times go a good way into a field, this has caused tractors to turn over when they have gone through into the tunnel, when they have driven over them. I believe a couple of farmers have been killed this way. Farmers are not the type of people who on mass run to a union rep. Please Mr Union man get these Badgers culled. They are not that type. It is more like the Union trying to prove that they can make things happen and their representatives positioning themselves by who can get the most done, for future promotions. They have gone so far down the route that they have, that they will never admit that they may have got it wrong.

I am sure those responsible for any decision on a UK cull, will take all the evidence into consideration. Woe betide them if they get it wrong.

I also believe that the Badger Trust has very little foresight. On many occasions I have asked them to give us a link. Surly if more people saw our Badger web cams, the more support they would get. We did get a link when they wanted us to help promote the annual Badger day, that they organise.

Also Elsie, the Badger is mightier than the fox.

Karen and Pat, A massive box, and I mean massive has been in our kitchen for two weeks, with the telescope inside. It has been away for a small repair. It needs three people to get it into the observatory. There maybe three people here tomorrow. It I do get it in, it will still take a little while longer to fit it up for broadcasting.

Sorry who ever asked about the owl cam. Be patient, there may not be an owl cam, although there was one, on one of their sight last year. But there will be other exciting possibilities. One of their Wardens, who inspects areas near the farm is coming when next in the area to see me, It wont be long. You will be surprised.

The Geese flew back onto the lake this morning. They stayed for a while. I don’t know if they ever have a second clutch of eggs. What ever we do have a couple of things in mind to try to stop the Gosling from being taken.

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I have for a while thought that the Badger who…

I have for a while thought that the Badger who comes out to feed, even before I am over the gate, waits near the path I use to get to the Badger feeding place. After tonight I know it does. I try to go a little later every night to feed the Badger, so that I am not feeding them when it is to light. Tonight I was a little later than normal. As I got to the place where I turn off of the path, the Badger was there waiting for me. It made me stop in my path, the Badger looked at me, took little notice and ambled back to the sett, as if it was telling me I was late, and about time to.

I spoke to soon about the Rooks last night. They came down tonight, over the coming days more will descend to steal a little of the Badger feed with the Magpies. The Rooks fill their mouths with as much as five pieces of bread, to take back to the Rookery to feed their young..

I have spent a good deal of the day trying to find nests to put cameras into. There are so many Birds about on the farm you would think that they would not be difficult to find. Any that I have found are in places that it is impossible to site a camera. I have two Swallow nest that I can use, but I wont have the cable to fix them up, until Wednesday. I managed to make the equipment for the Pied Wagtails nest, but I am having second thought about putting in the hole, after I disturbed the Bird when I measured the entrance hole yesterday. I would not like for the Birds to abandon the nest because of what I am doing.

I am sorry that the second Scottish Wildlife Trust camera is still not working. The centres manager who is responsible for the cameras is not back to work until tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. Until the camera I supplied are installed they will use another of their cameras. I believe that they have a Blue Tits nest with nine eggs, that they may use. I understand that the Pine Martin and the Red Squirrels will be shown on the camera we have supplied, when they are up and running.

When we were setting up the Osprey camera page for the site, I had a private view of the nest, one of the Osprey, I assume it was the male, returned to the nest with a large Salmon to feed the female.

I am not sure what the Fox was carrying this afternoon on camera. It seemed to have a long fluffy tail. The normal camera controller is away for repair, the one I am using is a bit jerky.

A number of you have been asking again about Woody’s condition. She has not been right again today. I will have to speak to the Veterinary again tomorrow. I did say before, that her illness could well be terminal. If it is, and we are not sure, I can assure you. Then as long as we can stop her experiencing pain, we will not take any drastic action. I will keep you updated on her condition.

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I managed to get the Swallows camera up this afternoon…

I managed to get the Swallows camera up this afternoon. I will put it on now and then instead of the Blackbird camera. Not to much as the Swallows are still building their nest. Well I hope they are, the eggs will soon fall out of that sorry affair, unless they make a better job of it. I will check the nest when they start laying their eggs and let you know how many eggs they lay, that will make it more interesting.

I had a problem with the main Badger camera last night. I really don’t know why, but for for some reason I was not able to control the camera. I switched the electricity off for fifteen minute or so, on turning it back on it seemed to be working as it should. Unfortunately camera one and the valley camera are on the same electricity supply and they went off at the same time. Last nights problem with the main Badger camera could be the start of the camera breaking down completely, and it may need changing. This camera is on a high telegraph pole. As I don’t like heights I have got to find someone to change it over for me. If I knew of any one I would change it now, rather than let it breakdown completely, and then having to find someone to do the job, especially as the Badger cubs a coming out. This camera also looks over the field where the Horses are now, and in their main field that we are turning them out on, on the 1st of May.

Yes, on the 1st of May we turn the Horses out on to their main field for the summer. Because of the lack of rain there is about half the amount of grass as in recent year. The Sheep have not helped, having some of them still grazing the field, but it would not be fair to leave the Horses any longer in the paddock that they are now in. They must be cursing me in their language with all that tasty spring grass, not a few metres away. It will also save us a lot of work.

It is a bit like a rodeo when they are first turned out onto the new grass. Breeze goes absolutely loopy, racing around the field bucking and kicking her legs out. Arnie does not go quite so mad, but he still enjoys himself. I wont let Lady and Woody out at the same time, they will want to join in with the fun. Lady in her condition and Woody being unwell may just cause more problems. I am going to turn Bliss and Misty out with the other Horses a few days later. I think that I will have to let them out on their own for a few hours, as Breeze will make them go even more mad if she is with them.

I will let you know tomorrow what time I am going to let them out, as long as the main Badger Camera is working alright you will be able to see a little of the action.

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Sorry about the Denbury Farm web cams going down last…

Sorry about the Denbury Farm web cams going down last night, I did not realise until I got up this morning, and I don’t know how long they were off for. We had an automatic update on our security, that restarted our computers and turned the web cams off.

The Squirrels are back in force, using the squirrel peanut box feeder, and also the sunflower heart bird feeders, that are not put out for them.. I think that the Squirrel are eating the the sunflower hearts more than the peanuts. The bird feeder by the squirrel box feeder has a Squirrel guard on it to stop them climbing the pole, that it sits on, but it is to close to the brambles, and they are climbing the brambles to get above the guard, to get to the food. It does not take them long to learn how to get to any food, in any feeders once they know where it is. That is why I want to get a Squirrel obstacle course up and running. CJ Birdfood give us our sunflower hearts, peanuts and Badger food free, It save us a lot of money that we can then put into the web cams.

I want the Squirrels to use the peanut feeder that can be seen from the main Badger camera, there is more room to put up a biggish obstacle course in that area, unfortunately they have not found the peanut feeder there yet, the reason being, is that they first go to where the birds are feeding, then they find the peanut feeder. Well I hope that is the case, as I have placed a bird feeder close to the Squirrel feeder. We will find out in a day or two. that area is a good wildlife area. There must be more Rabbits there than Water-ship Down.

I was asked on the forum today, if we have any Pigs, Goats or Cattle on the farm. Since we came to live at Denbury, we have had a good selection of different animals, but now we only have Horses and Sheep. We have had Charolais and Limousine Cattle and Wild Boar, that you would say are pigs. We nearly got a small herd of Angora Goats, but fortunately a friend talked us out of them. I think we were only getting them as they looked so cute. As you have properly experienced at Children’s Zoos, they will eat anything. We have also had six Llamas, Ostriches and a Zebra. I must admit other than the Cattle I regretted all the others going. They all went for good reasons, none were not just an off the moment, good idea at the time decisions, to have them. We had a lot of good and bad experiences with them all. I will tell you about them every now and them.

The Badger with the bad leg has still got the problem. I can only imagine that it happened when we saw the Badger fight a while back. There is a chance that it had been bitten when fighting and that the bite is now infected. It could be broken, but going by the size of the dead Badger that we found the next morning after the fight, I should not have thought that it would have been able to inflict a serious break or wound as the injured Badger has. Unfortunately there is nothing that I can do for it, without causing a lot of stress for the injured Badger and the others in the sett, especially as the Badger cubs will be due to show themselves soon. That is of course if there are any cubs.

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I don t know if anyone else saw them between…

I don’t know if anyone else saw them, between camera one and camera two last night there were ten badgers. I have been checking the cameras out every night since we found the dead Badger, and although I had my suspicions that the dead Badger was not from the local sett as it looked very small, but you can never be sure until you see the amount that are normally there. The dead Badger must have unknowingly strayed into the local setts area and unfortunately got attacked.

We also managed to show the three Roe deer, later last night, they were grazing and laying in the valley field for a good hour. We will see if they are about tonight, for they often come back at the same time for a few nights running.

The two Ewes decided that they wanted to join the flock this morning, trouble was the twin lambs got left behind and were crying out for their mother, we did not notice until they were a good way off, so we had to go looking for them. No way were the Ewe and single lamb going to be captured, they had decided they liked the bigger fields. The lamb is a good size so it will be fine. The twins mother was easy to catch, she was pleased to see the lambs when she got back to them. We are still having to help feed the lambs by hand feeding them with a bottle, I don’t think they will survive without the help.

As is most of the country, we are being promised snow over the next few days. The Farm, the surrounding hills and countryside really take on a different aspect and is a delight to see, although it does make work on the farm harder, so I cant say we are relishing the thought of it. We don’t get a lot of snow here, so with a bit of luck, it may miss us.

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You can just about see the heads of the Dove…

You can just about see the heads of the Dove chicks emerging today, It may sound cruel but I reckon that they are, well if I say that they are unattractive, it would be an under statement, the real word is ugly, but when mature they are a very attractive bird.

We let the Ewes and lambs out today, the last Ewe to lamb, who had the single lamb is doing very well, the lamb is already bigger than the twins. The twins are doing fine but not growing as quickly, although I should have expected it, being the breed very rarely has more than a single lamb, the Ewe looked a little down last night, that is why I made the decision to let them out this morning, the grass will buck her up.

A couple of entries on last nights forum, tells of one of the Badgers limping, when it was feeding last night. I must admit I did not notice it, it must have been because I was seeing how many were out, I will check it out tonight, although there is very little that can be done. Some years back, before we did the webcams we found an injured Badger, it was a bit of an experience getting it into the car to take to the vets, I would try to avoid doing it again, as I nearly got bitten. Our local RSPCA is West Hatch, I believe is the largest centre for wildlife in the UK, they told us they would contact us if they were going to release it, we never did hear back from them.

A question also asked last night on the forum, was who was more dominant, the Fox or Badger? The Badger is, their cubs will show themselves in a few weeks time and you will see how aggressive they can be to the Fox.

At this time of year the Vixen does not join in the feeding, as she is looking after her cubs in the lair, every year I tell myself that I will find the lair that is in the woods, close to the main horse field, but I can never find the time. This year I will make the effort to see them when they first emerge, and get them on the webcams.

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At about 8 30pm last night there was one hell…

At about 8.30pm last night there was one hell of a noise, very close to the farm house, it sounded as if a Fox was killing a Pheasant, it quite often happens, but this was going on far too long for a Fox and Pheasant, so we went out side to investigate and saw that it was two Badgers fighting by the side of the house. We tried to shoo them away to stop them fighting, but to no avail, you would not want to get to close to them in that mood. After a few minutes longer the noise stopped and we thought no more of it.

On letting the dogs out this morning, we could see a pile of something at the entrance to the orchard, finding it to be a dead Badger, it was a young male, probably a last years cub, going by its size. I could not see any serious injuries on it, just a bite on the top of its rear leg.

I cant be sure if it is one from the sett we broadcast from, although it did look smaller than the ones I have seen when feeding, but it is difficult to judge sizes from a live and dead Badger.

It is possible that it was a stray Badger from another sett, that had strayed to close in the territory of the local sett. It would also be about this time of year that the Badgers mate, a stray Badger may have smelt a female from the local sett, that would also have caused the fight that we witnessed. But the dead Badger, if it was one that was involved in the fight, was making his way in the direction of the local sett that we broadcast from, maybe he was trying to get home for refuge after being critically injured. It may also have been that he was being pushed out of the sett by the older Badgers, they do that sometimes, but at his age he would not have been a threat. We will never know.

The sett only consisted of five badgers in the beginning of 2006, with two females giving birth last year the amount doubled. Only about a week ago I had seen the ten feeding, the first time since the late last summer, I had believed that there were nine in the sett. I was surprised so many had survived, as they can often be seen along the lanes as road victims.