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Out of old habit the master of the badger den visits the red deer observation ground – maybe there is  something to tuck in on.

 

The movements of the omnivorous badgers  are slowish and somewhat clumsy. A badger defends itself quite skilfully but does not stalk its own prey and feeds on what it comes across along its path. In autumn it feeds largely on earthworms, grubs and insects; small rodents are dug out of their burrows and it looks for snails and frogs.  In the forest the badger finds berries, nuts, plant tubers and roots as well as mushrooms. Grain fields are visited during the fattening-up period, the winter fat gaining process is on.

 

While badgers after the winter hibernation weigh less than 10 kilos (large males are heavier) then in autumn an average-sized badger weighs about twenty kilos. For defecating in winter they use the blind-end tunnels of the badger sett and toilet "pits" are used diligently in summer too –a badger does not leave its piles about in the forest, and it does not mark its territory with them.