We may call it a moment of genius. It takes an object – a rock, a stick, a tool – and applies it to purpose never before imagined. We admire crows that use traffic to crack open nuts, elephants that swat flies with branches, and badgers that convert trailcams into toys.
Okay, maybe the last one is less brilliance than simple mischief. Be that as it may, Trailcam2 is gone. The strap has been chewed through by badger cubs and the camera dragged underground!
And there it will stay, at least until the badgers shove it outwards during their regular sett cleaning forays. I hope I do see it again eventually because I’m sure the footage that it has obtained during its captivity is spellbinding. Otherwise, an archaeologist in a few centuries’ time will ponder the meaning of a small rectangular camera deep inside a Surrey hill.
But even when the path has been trodden before, nature has the feeling of a pioneer. A toadlet venturing from its breeding pond into the wood cannot guess how many generations have preceded it.
It is the first of its journeys, after all. Not like the rain, which is evaporated and precipitated over and over again.
As for the badgers, they write their stories in rocks as well as on trailcams. Scratch marks on chalk tell of their travels.
Here’s a still that I got from Trailcam2 last week.
It was a good camera, and it will be missed – and replaced, of course.
But the badgers will still play whether they are watched or not.
A Walk with Wildlife 
Mischievous little things!!! Who would have thought they’d do that to a trail cam? Are they trying to tell you it’s not polite to spy on them? They’re so cute though.
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I’ve had a full spring of badgers poking and twisting trailcams, but pinching one altogether…hooligans! Oh well, I’m sure they had fun.
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We had a good chuckle over that (at your expense). What little brats they can be!
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Yes, mischievous! To them it’s a toy and they love it. 🙂
The ravens here are very smart. I have literally seen them “talk” to each other and cooperate in order to steal food from a dog. The poor dog didn’t have a chance.
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That’s amazing! Ravens are the most extraordinary birds. They’ve made a good recovery in the UK in recent years although haven’t reached my area yet. I have no doubt that they will be joining the magpies in teasing the foxes once they arrive.
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Yes, they certainly are. I don’t know how they do it – getting through the -45C winters is a feat in and of itself. Sometimes I will see them huddled in a group against the cold, but they need a lot of calories to survive and I’m not sure how they manage that.
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I bet you that’s the one who stole it! You have a suspect 😀
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But I’m not convinced that I’d pick him out in a badger identification parade!
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There is a lot of comfort in knowing that they will continue playing whether watched or not. That for them life goes on if we let it …
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They are remarkably innocent little things, entirely unaware of the challenges that their species faces elsewhere. Fortunately, they are still fully protected in my part of England.
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That is good to hear.
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Ah you must be thinking about writing a book about badgers, you’re getting quite an insight to their lives. Aren’t they cheeky chappies & naughty, I hope you do recover it one day. Your blogs, words, pictures & humour make my day
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So very naughty, even naughtier than foxcubs it seems. It made me laugh.
And now I need to buy a new trailcam!
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How unfortunate! I hope you do get it back some day – what a tale it would tell!
Love that wee toadlet!
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They’re such bundles of mischief. I’ll walk around their sett area at some point and see if they’ve been kind enough to abandon it.
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Another nice post, Adele! They don’t enjoy BigBrother, the badgers 😀 :D. Oh, those little naughty guys!
I loved the part about the archaeologists. Don’t cameras have a GPS attached? Maybe they would still have some signal
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Thanks Radu! I had a bear lick a trail camera when I was in Romania but not actually steal one. What mischievous badgers.
I don’t have a GPS on these cameras although it is something that I’ve thought about. I wouldn’t be able to reach into the sett anyway though because that’s against the law here, as I’m sure the badgers know…
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