Tragedy...
It is fair to say that I was not prepared for this. I have watched these animals for over two months and I have been photographing the cubs for over a month. I visited the sett yesterday. It was a horrible day. The weather presenters had got the forecast completely and utterly wrong (again) and I sat in a torrential downpour for several hours.
There was no sign of the badgers. I had not really expected to see them in these conditions. I packed up, but before I left, I went for a little walk to check out nearby setts - badgers maintain several setts in the area which they use as bases for foraging different parts of the woodland.
In the last sett I looked at, I spotted one of the cubs. I froze, in case I spooked it. But it didn't move. I edged closer and it still did not move. I looked closely and it was not moving at all... not even breathing. There, in the entrance to the burrow, was a dead cub. I was and still am devastated.
It was the runt, the smallest of the cubs. I am sure it was one of the first that I had seen - making the most of the warmer weather (in early May) foraging in the daylight. I have no idea how it died. There were no cuts or bite marks. I can only assume it was shaken or trampled by an adult (possibly broke its neck), or more likely it has succumbed to pneumonia because of this terrible weather. As I drove away from the sett, I encountered an adult badger... splattered on the road. Can I feel any lower right now!?
We bitch and moan about the rain. Yep, it is a real hassle using an umbrella or wearing a jacket. But when you see what happens to young animals that are exposed to this, you realise how important the seasons are and that animals depend on the fine weather to raise their young. Is it global warming or is it just the crappy British weather? Whichever you think, I have never despised our weather so much!
A little bit about badgers - sourced from Wildlife Online
"Young badgers emerge from the nursery chamber at about eight weeks old (late April or early May) and the cubs have their first teeth at four weeks old. Weaning begins when the cubs are about 12 weeks old and during this process the sow will regurgitate food for the cubs; cubs are weaned and feeding themselves by five to six months old (around end of June, early July). Cubs may be seen foraging with the sow by summer and by June all the juveniles will be familiar with the clan's territory.
By the time the cubs are fully weaned, if conditions are good the juvenile badger may weigh 6 kg (13 lbs). If the cub survives to the end of its first year, it will usually weigh between eight and ten kilograms (19 – 22 lbs) and measure 70 to 80cm (2 ½ ft). One study from Ireland published in 1993 observed that more than 60% of cubs died during their first year, 35% to 40% of which died before they were weaned."
There was no sign of the badgers. I had not really expected to see them in these conditions. I packed up, but before I left, I went for a little walk to check out nearby setts - badgers maintain several setts in the area which they use as bases for foraging different parts of the woodland.
In the last sett I looked at, I spotted one of the cubs. I froze, in case I spooked it. But it didn't move. I edged closer and it still did not move. I looked closely and it was not moving at all... not even breathing. There, in the entrance to the burrow, was a dead cub. I was and still am devastated.
It was the runt, the smallest of the cubs. I am sure it was one of the first that I had seen - making the most of the warmer weather (in early May) foraging in the daylight. I have no idea how it died. There were no cuts or bite marks. I can only assume it was shaken or trampled by an adult (possibly broke its neck), or more likely it has succumbed to pneumonia because of this terrible weather. As I drove away from the sett, I encountered an adult badger... splattered on the road. Can I feel any lower right now!?
We bitch and moan about the rain. Yep, it is a real hassle using an umbrella or wearing a jacket. But when you see what happens to young animals that are exposed to this, you realise how important the seasons are and that animals depend on the fine weather to raise their young. Is it global warming or is it just the crappy British weather? Whichever you think, I have never despised our weather so much!
A little bit about badgers - sourced from Wildlife Online
"Young badgers emerge from the nursery chamber at about eight weeks old (late April or early May) and the cubs have their first teeth at four weeks old. Weaning begins when the cubs are about 12 weeks old and during this process the sow will regurgitate food for the cubs; cubs are weaned and feeding themselves by five to six months old (around end of June, early July). Cubs may be seen foraging with the sow by summer and by June all the juveniles will be familiar with the clan's territory.
By the time the cubs are fully weaned, if conditions are good the juvenile badger may weigh 6 kg (13 lbs). If the cub survives to the end of its first year, it will usually weigh between eight and ten kilograms (19 – 22 lbs) and measure 70 to 80cm (2 ½ ft). One study from Ireland published in 1993 observed that more than 60% of cubs died during their first year, 35% to 40% of which died before they were weaned."
Labels: badgers
posted by Elliott Neep at
6/04/2008 09:14:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home