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Sunday, 20 September 2009

Badgers arrive mob-handed

There is a sort of routine that can be expected each night the Cruisedog and I set off for our nightly rounds of Maidencombe. However, nothing is guaranteed and tonight was a graphic demonstration of the uncertainty of wild animal behaviour. My two vixens failed to appear outside my back door, despite my calling for a quarter of an hour. At our first rendezvous, two shy foxes waited whilst I called for Jackal who had failed to put in an appearance the previous night. Suddenly, he loomed out of the darkness - ravenous. On the cliffs proper, a pair of foxes lay crouched down in the long grass some way off - the usual 'approacher' missing. The biggest surprise occurred at the final port of call adjacent to the beach. A veritable phalanx of four badgers advanced purposefully towards us, causing the resident dominant fox, Barnie, some alarm. I managed to get off a quick vid clip of the initial confrontation (see following post) but the revelation of the night came when I suddenly realised that Barnie was actually 'Snatcher' (a remarkable animal who had taken food by hand after only a week - but had disappeared after I had scared him by running back to retrieve a plastic bag) ... a surprising night, but that's how it is and every night you see something different ... and I've been doing it for over thirty years ...