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On going out on its foraging round at dusk, the badger at first sniffs to find out the direction of  the wind, almost always choosing a path against the wind in order to avoid unpleasant surprises (among animals the badger has no  enemies beside the wolf); it snorts loudly on getting close to a human. When it finds something edible worth digging for, we can hear grunts that are quite similar to those of a boar but not so loud from a busy badger. In the forests in Estonia’s mainland and in Saaremaa there are about 3000-4000 badgers; there are no badgers on smaller islands.  Even to Saaremaa badgers were brought by humans in 1960; by now they are most numerous there; on the mainland we can meet badgers somewhat more frequently in southern Estonia.

 

Before winter they must fatten up properly even though in case of a mild winter, as it usually is in Saaremaa, they exit from the den more often than on the mainland.

 

By spring the weight of healthy adult badgers has fallen to slightly less than nine kilos – including the fat stores collected in autumn the loss can increase to about 50-60% of the autumn weight.

 

In the evenings we can see deer in camera view.

 

The image of this splendid stag was captured by Biker,  LK forum