WATCH BADGERS

PEAK DISTRICT As dusk falls, Roly Smith gets into position to witness the magical emergence of these secretive woodland creatures

t’s a balmy June evening, and as an enormous, Tenko-red sun slowly sinks below the horizon, we carefully pick our way across the cow-patted White Peak pasture towards a silhouetted ash wood. We make a special note of the direction of the gentle wind – it’s coming from the south-west – as we approach the wood. It will determine our positioning and choice of vantage point.

Just as we enter the wood, a red fox skulks across a corner of the field, its russet fur and white-tipped brush glowing in the declining sun. It alerts a ‘building’ of rooks in the highest branches of the ashes, which takes flight in a chorus of raucous cawing.

Once in the darker confines of the wood, we notice almost immediately an enormous bank of bare earth, which looks for all the world as if a mechanical digger has been at

Ilarge. But no, this gigantic platform is the work of several generations of our evening’s objective – badgers.

BROCK AROUND THE CLOCK

June is a great time of year to observe these charming and handsome animals. This is the magical moment when badger cubs emerge above ground for the first time and start to play, learning the skills that will serve them in later life.

The first essential for a successful badger watch is to get there early before the badgers head out. Make sure you wear warm, dark but quiet clothing that doesn’t rustle too much. Always wait downwind of the badger sett – their sense of smell is reckoned to be 800 times better than ours.

Thankfully the wind is blowing into our faces as we step quietly and cautiously behind a large grey ash bole above and to the right of the sett. We settle down as comfortably as we can for what might be a long wait: it may be some time before we are able to stretch our limbs again.

By now we can see three large holes gaping above and behind the pile of excavated earth, with two or three well-worn paths leading through the dog’s mercury and ramsoms under the trees, away from them. Nothing else to do now but wait.

We watch the dark entrances to the sett with an increasing sense of anticipation. The conditions are fine and we’ve been careful in our

“We watch the dark sett with an increasing sense of anticipation”