One of Britain's largest land carnivores, the secretive badger inhabits that nocturnal woodland world of owls and foxes, sneaking out for moonlit foraging and playing when we're not around to watch - but, of course, we really should be. A well-organised badger watching trip - when everyone involved is aware that rustling clothes, strong perfume and chatter damage the stillness necessary for a fantastic evening's entertainment - can indeed involve drama, comedy and even acrobatics. If the right kinds of tempting snacks are available for the performers.
At dusk, if everything smells all right, badgers tentatively emerge from their setts, which twist in labyrinthine fashion to incorporate spare rooms, emergency exits, granny flats, nurseries, kitchens, toilets, master bedrooms and even whole empty wings borrowed sometimes by foxes and sometimes by rabbits (badgers aren't species-ist when it comes to choosing friends, as you'll know from 'Wind in the Willows').
The elegance of their unexpectedly streamlined bodies and their speed, agility and sense of fun come as a surprise to those who only know them as roadkills and shaving brushes. Cubstussle in black-and-white striped tumbling heaps and chase one another's tails all night while their more sensible parents dig for worms and sniff the air periodically for a menacing whiff of aftershave or 'Fox pour homme'.
Local, independent badger-watching groups operate almost everywhere across the UK for most of the year and the organisers will give you tips if you want to try it alone. But it's a good idea to go with an expert guide and watch from a specially built hide in a nature reserve if it's your first time, since you'll have a better chance of seeing a big family of animals who are confident around the smell of humans and are used to regular evening servings of peanuts. Badgers don't hibernate but they do stay indoors for days at a time in very cold weather, so watching is best during the summer and early autumn.
Consult your local
Badger Group or the
Badger Trust to find out where to go locally and who you can go with.
College Barn Farm in Oxfordshire is a good place for your first badger watching experience. Their farm has self catering accommodation and three badger hides you can use during your stay so there's plenty of time for sightings.
Old Henley Farm in Dorset and the
British Wildlife Centre, Surrey also have well set up hides, but no overnight accommodation
Wakehurst Place, West Sussex is another good place to try, and is quite close to London. Their cosy, glass-fronted hide is built into a grassy bank so the entrances to the setts are positioned at eye level between the trees, and the badgers will scale and leap from up-ended logs and snuffle audibly amongst the leaves for treats less than a metre from where you're sitting, so you can see their pristine, fluffy fur, gorgeous faces and huge claws in perfect detail. Adorable!
