Bold badger cubs

I have just finished my first week of badger photography and am starting to experiment in my new surroundings. This is a very small cub, probably smaller than a Chihuahua. He is tiny, but all sense of size and perspective is distorted with this low and wide-angle view. This is a remote camera set up with a 16mm lens. I lay the food precisely where I need the subject to be in focus. It takes time to set this up well and you need plenty more time for trial and error to perfect it. The young cubs barely even acknowledge the camera shutter. Last years cubs do flinch and look around, but they still seem comfortable.

Switching between two setts, I have witnessed a great deal of activity, especially during the day. This year's cubs have been wandering about since midday, which I thought was incredible! Having always associated these animals with dusk and night, to see them in broad daylight is quite surreal.

I am really glad that I have persevered with the daylight approach. OK, I have to sit in the woods for over 8 hours getting an incredibly numb backside, but what a time I have!? Actually, its not as bad as it used to be. I now use a Chair Mate (see left) available from any good fishing tackle shop. It makes sitting on the ground much more comfortable.

I see so much more by just sitting still and quite. I see roe deer deftly moving within a few metres, sparrow hawks whipping through the trees hunting the songbirds, and a tawny owl perching right above my head. In the undergrowth, I've seen a dormouse, smooth snake, grass snake, and untold number of mice and voles, all oblivious to my presence. Each time I see something I think about taking a shot, but check myself. I am here for badgers and cannot be distracted for a second.