Garden Badgers

[JeffH]

Thanks Alison

Originally Posted by dave midi

Those are stunning photos, Jeff. What time of night are they coming in and what ISO are you shooting at?

Thanks Dave At the moment they're usually coming in at between 9.45pm and 10.15pm, though this varies and they'll start coming in earlier as the daylight hours get shorter. I'm generally shooting at ISO 250 with a flash set-up - see below.

Originally Posted by Lucio

Wow, what fantastic shots! Well done, Jeff! P.S. What flash setup have you used to get these shots?Lucio.

Thanks Lucio I'm using two wireless flash units (set at different heights) - a Canon 430Ex and a Canon 580ExII - and fired by a Canon ST-E2 unit.
My 7D would fire the flashes without the ST-E2 but the 7D uses a white light which disturbs the badgers, as opposed to the ST-E2's red light which doesn't. Having said that, the Badgers have become well habituated to the light from the flashes and don't even leave the garden now when the flashes fire. Some months ago they'd leave the garden after each shot but would be back within 2-3 minutes.

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers, Barn Owls and Avocets)

[ronx]

I am lucky enough to have badgers in my garden regularly too. Until the showers in the last couple of nights, I have been leaving a shallow dish of water out and they were coming to drink. I understand dry weather is hard on them because the worms are not easily available so they get hungry and thirsty.

I have found that they like sunflower seeds best of all, (shell on or off) which we put out for the birds. And they love chopped apple, sweetcorn (I give them the cobs raw when I have cut the corn off although they LOVE it when I occasionally leave a whole sweetcorn for them) but peanut butter sandwiches which everyone says they like, they leave. Peanut butter spread on the grass is carefully licked off. I have a pair regularly but have had up to 5. No babies yet though. Badgers and a flawless lawn do not go together. It looks like we have had a herd of wild boar through the place.

There are HUNDREDS of active setts round this part of the world (and I am not exagerating) so sadly many dead badgers on the roads.
Someone suggested to me that the dead ones on the roads are shot or poisoned by farmers and dumped there. Can this be true?

[Campercrew]

Fantastic pictures! Thanks for sharing them