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Hi, thanks for
visiting this site. I'm a keen
photographer with a growing
interest in wildlife, badgers in particular. The main photographs and videos
of the badgers were all taken by me at locations in the Scottish Borders , the Southernmost part of
Scotland. If you have any comments to make
or questions to ask,
please use the FORUM for further information.
In many ways I count myself lucky to live on the edge of a country
estate, 'Edgerston' in
the Scottish Borders. The opportunities for those interested in
wildlife are limited only by time, commitment and patience. The more
hours I
spend photographing and watching these fascinating creatures, the
more I admire them for their cleanliness, their habits, their
attitudes, their whole way of life. Predictable in many ways but
always full of surprises, the badgers (meles meles) at Edgerston
are typical of the Eurasian variety.
Why badgers you may ask, and for tips on badger watching, visit the WHY BADGERS page.
An interesting wee tale follows:
Enthusing
about badgers at the local village hall one night having presented
some Proshow Gold sequences on wildlife, one farmer
expressed his opinion to me of badgers labelling them as "dirty beasts"
and it was obvious he regarded them as pests. I smiled and let him
have his say but I could have pointed out that badgers change their
bedding regularly, groom frequently, do not normally take and
devour food inside their setts, have external toilets (dung pits)
situated away from their home and are actually one of the farmers
greatest friends. Rabbits, mice, rats, voles, snails, slugs and
other pests are removed from the countryside regularly throughout
the year by badgers, doing the farmer a largely unacknowledged
service.
Fortunately the badgers at Edgerston are not persecuted
by man (no lamping / no digging / no stopping entrances for fox
hunting) and as I check the setts on a regular basis, woe betide
anyone caught tampering with Brock or his home. There are no busy
roads for these badgers to cross so premature deaths from traffic
are rare as their foraging grounds are all (as far as I'm aware) within the estate
boundaries or on nearby hills.
I've gathered quite
a collection of material on the European badger and with an
extensive collection of books and information from the Internet,
my knowledge and fondness of this mammal has grown. Many of the
existing videos and photographs of badgers available on the Internet appear
to have been taken in low light or are presented in poor
quality and don't really do justice to this shy and timid
creature. I hope to address this through the website and by doing
so, perhaps people's vision and opinion of badgers will change.
John
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