European Badger 

The Badgers are undoubtedly one of the UK’s most popular and best-loved wild mammals. They are primarily nocturnal and generally shy, and they are usually quite difficult to see. The badgers are very close and great shots of these iconic mammals are possible. The badgers come in after dark but under lights, I also use a six flash set up.

Important

The photographer needs to have patience in this hide as the badgers can come at any time, sometimes a long wait is needed before they appear. You should be prepared to be in the hide for 6 – 8 hours if necessary. 

The badgers have an acute sense of smell and hearing they are less than 20 meters away strict silence is necessary to get your images.

If you are bringing food and drink please be sure that the food is in containers and not in packets  that rustle  e.g. crisps and biscuits

Please note that this is now a hide rental, due to COVID 19 situation. The hide holds two people comfortably but I am unable to give a workshop because of social distancing We will talk through settings etc on arrival but you will be in the hide by yourself.

The typical length of the workshop is six hours and starts after dark, April to November. Start times  vary and you can stay in the hide as long as you like

Badgers are nocturnal: they sleep during the day and are active at night. They emerge from their sett in the evening to play, socialise and forage. Unfortunately for the photographer, they don’t come out at the same time every time.

Naturalists universally agree that badgers have an acute sense of smell, pretty good hearing and rather poor vision.

 

Eyesight

The badger’s eyes are quite small, and its eyesight is not particularly good. Also, like many other animals, badgers cannot see anything in colour, only black, grey and white. Whilst they cannot see details very well, they can make out shapes, and movements.

 

Sense of Smell

It is thought that the badger’s sense of smell is 700 to 800 times better than ours!”. The sense of smell in badgers is extraordinarily well developed and is undoubtedly their most important sense

Hearing

Badgers also have acute hearing, they can pick up the smallest of sounds. They can even hear worms as they dig towards the ground surface in the rain

 

Equipment

The Badgers will come very close on this workshop so in terms of lens recommendations, anywhere between a 200mm, 300mm, 400mm lenses are all useful, 70 – 200 mm and 100 – 400 mm, 500 mm, 150 – 600mm zoom lenses are all very good. A tripod is essential for supporting your lens in this hide.

Mirror-less micro four-thirds cameras are well suited to this workshop,

See more images in my badger gallery Badger Gallery 

 

  Cost

One Photographer – £60

Two Photographers – £50 per person

Gift Vouchers available

 

To book, just fill in the form below and I will get back to you quickly.

In the event of a Badger “no show” you will be offered another date free of charge.

A 50% deposit is required to secure the booking date, the full amount is payable if you book within a month of the workshop date.

Please pay by BACs Transfer details below or bring cash on the day

Santander  

Account Name Mr A.R. McCombe

Account No 35735528

Sort Code 09 01 27

 

Testimonial

Joe Gilhooley………..

Ron

Just wanted to say thank you so much for setting us up last night in the hide and giving us the opportunity to use your amazing set-up, which is all the more impressive for being comfortably outside your front window!

As you were no doubt aware, the first appearance was getting on towards 9.30, when suddenly a very burly badger appeared from the end of the garden close to the woods.  Very wet front legs so look like he’d been doing some paddling.  He absolutely mowed in like Desperate Dan at the food on the bigger logs to our left and was there for quite a while.  After he trundled back off the way he’d come, another, very much more tentative one quietly entered stage left. Potentially 6 individuals came in though we will need to scrutinise the pictures carefully to see if that’s really the case or if any had been in and returned.

You’ve done a fantastic job on the setup, which must have taken ages, gaining their confidence and making them comfortable with the sounds of cameras and flashes of light.  Has to rate as one of, if not the best Christmas present we’ve ever had, and have told the young ones how much we appreciated it – and will spread the word, you can be sure.

Many thanks again for sharing the fruits of your labours with us.  It was a great experience.

Alan Drummond, Earlston …………………..