There are about 300,000 badgers living across Britain, their tracks and trails criss-cross all over the countryside, yet they are rarely seen. While these animals have been well studied outside of their setts, little has been known about their behaviour while underground until now.
On Valentine's night the BBC screened the result of a two year project produced by Andrew Cooper, a fantastic insight into the comings and goings of a wild badger family here in South Devon. Technological advances - smaller equipment, infra-red devices that can film in the darkness - made it possible to capture the badgers in their natural habitat.
Even narrator Sir David Attenborough describes it as "a privileged glimpse into a secret world".
There are badgers at work and at play. Eating (they bring apples into the sett), sleeping playing - even tidying up and making their own beds!
They are doing all this in pitch black conditions, but the clarity of the pictures is very impressive
The conditions in the sett are very cramped. A labyrinth of tunnels has three chambers - one of them just big enough for one badger.
During a thunderstorm you could hear a clap of thunder rolling down the tunnels and around the chambers - and this cub pulled its paws up over its ears. The images were riveting.
Sadly nearly a quarter of Britains's badgers are killed on the roads every spring when the clocks go forward and the badgers stagger around half-blind infront of passing vehicles.
But on a lighter note - good news for all you badger fans and those who enjoy fishing in Devon, not only do we here at Newbarn Farm have superior 4 STAR self-catering Cottage & Fishing but we have Fishing in Devon with a large badger sett in our copse. Who knows you may even get a glimpse of one if out walking at dusk. And for those who really would like to watch the badgers out at play - Paignton Zoo (just down the road) have evening badger watches daily from 1st April - October 2008 (booking essential).
Just remember to watch out for the unmistakable black and white snouts if driving to us for your Devon Fishing Holiday at dusk.
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