Badger Matilda with cubs in mid-summer. The badgers did not bother about the photographer or the dog and went calmly on with their doings.
Photo: Külli Joonson
How are the badgers doing in early August? The badger cubs who in no way want to be seen in the badger webcam or trail cameras should by now be about three-four months old – rather four. They were born in March-April. Looking quickly and from a distance it is not even clear if the animal that was seen was a cub or an adult: even a big mountain seems small at a distance and a hillock close by large instead. The measures of the cubs are of course still clearly smaller and the proportions a little different from the adults. The coat of the cubs is silkier, greyer and sometimes bristling, and they always move closely together, always doing something or romping. The badger mum may not necessarily be seen.
From the trail camera photos and videos and from observations it seems that badger cubs in summer are not necessarily very tightly bound to the burrow where they were born. They are not there lounging in the sun or romping outside in the sunshine in daytime nor at night. But somewhere they must be, adventuring with their mother and sleeping in a safe place. Maybe in a summer burrow with one or two entrances where the camera eye has not reached?.
Tiit Hunt
