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Bedding material in the spoil heap

An examination of the spoil heaps outside badger sett entrances will nearly always reveal bits of old bedding material - grass, hay, straw, bracken etc - incorporated into the spoil heap. This is evidence that the holes belong to a badger sett, but it is not evidence of current use of the sett by badgers.

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Old bedding material on the spoil heap

Badgers often bring old bedding material up to the surface and leave it on the spoil heaps outside the sett entrances. This material may be spread quite widely across the spoil heap. If the material is relatively clean, and if the weather is dry, the badgers may take it back below ground when it has dried out. Whether this is deliberate "airing" of bedding is open to question.

Dirtier bedding, which may be well mixed with soil, is usually left and in time it will become part of the spoil heap.

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Fresh bedding bundles

The sight of bundles of fresh bedding outside the entrances to a sett is one of the clearest signs of current badger activity at that sett. When badgers collect bedding they often bring back several or many bundles, and sometimes leave one or more of these bundles outside. Presumably the badgers that drop these bundles are disturbed or distracted before they get their load below ground.

A certain amount of green grass or other vegetation can often be found in bedding bundles. The freshness of such green vegetation gives a good indication of how fresh the bundles are. In spring, badgers may bring back bundles made up entirely of green grass or bluebell leaves. This is a good sign that there are cubs below ground. It is thought that the sow takes in green material so that it will rot and generate warmth in the nursery chamber.

So long as they remain dry, abandoned bundles of bedding do not usually remain above ground for very long.

Picture © Steve Jackson. See the Photo File.

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Trails of bedding material

Further evidence of bedding collection may be found in the form of trails of bedding fragments - bits of hay, straw, etc - leading into sett entrances. In the spring, such trails may be made up of fresh green grass or bluebell leaves. These bits of bedding will have been left behind as the badger dragged its bundle of material backwards into the sett. As with bedding bundles, the fresh green material within these trails can show how recently the collection of bedding took place.

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References

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Additional picture credits

The Eurasian badger photo used at the head of this Article is © Steve Jackson. Credits for the photos used in the right-hand margin of this page for site navigation can be found on the Credits page.

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