Big news!

Hello everyone! We have got some very exciting news for you. We have been studying our BadgerCam very carefully recently and have discovered something very, very exciting!

We have noticed that Bella is pregnant! Which means she will be having baby badgers soon (you call baby badgers cubs).

 

Badger cubs are usually born in February. The number of cubs that Bella will have is between one and two because this is how many badgers usually give birth to.

Although the cubs will be born in late February we will not be able to see them before May as they spend the first 8-10 weeks of their lives underground!

 



We are really looking forward to these new arrivals and we will make sure we keep filming extra carefully during  Bella's pregnancy so that we can let you know as soon as something changes.

Make sure you come and visit us in May to see the new babies!

They might look like this ...

See you soon!

The team at Cogges.

Home sweet home

We realised that the reason the badgers were digging was because they were making a new section for their sett so that the girls (Beatrice and Bella) had their own place to live.

Badger's sett's are made up of lots of tunnels and have different entrances like this ...

One entrance

 

 

Inside the sett

 

 

Bella popping her head out to say hello!

 



The boys seem to have been doing all the work though. They have been digging for hours and dragging bits of tree and leaves to make their new home look nice while the girls have been sitting back, relaxing in the winter sun (Badger's do come out in the day time sometimes but that are quite shy animals).

Beatrice chilling out



 

Is this what it is like in your family, all the boys doing the work?

 

Why not tell us about the animals you see in your garden?

What do they get up to?

 

Maybe you could write a blog about the animals you see in your garden!

You could even set up a video camera like we have too!

 

 

See you soon!

The team at Cogges





Dig dig dig dig digging!

Dont't panic! Bertie, Barry, Beatrice and Bella are still with us. Phew! We were a bit worried about them when we heard that there was going to be a cull.

Since we last spoke to you we have set up BadgerCam - this is a video camera that we have set up to see what our badger family are getting up to.

Badger's are mainly nocturnal, which means that they mostly come out at night, making it harder for us to see what they are up to so that we can fill you in while you are waiting for your next visit to Cogges.

Today, when we were having a look at the film from the BadgerCam we noticed that Barry and Bertie have got a new hobbie - digging! When we went over to the sett the next morning ,we saw that there were some footprints and scratch marks outside the entrance to their den.

What do you think they were digging for?

What can you tell about their feet from the photograph?

Please comment on this blog with your answers and any questions you think of about the badgers!

Look out for evidence of Barry and Bertie's inquisitive behaviour on your next visit to see us at Cogges!

See you soon!

The team at Cogges

Badger cull to go ahead! What does this mean for our badger family?!

In the news today (Wednesday 27th February 2013) it was revealed that a badger cull is to go ahead soon in England.


What is a cull?

 It means that some badgers will be killed because people think that they carry a disease called tuberculosis (sometimes called TB) and people think that they pass this on to cattle (like the cows that they use to make our burgers and things).

Why do they have to kill them though?

If lots of cattle catch TB from the badgers then they will die and that will mean that farmers will lose money and their animals - which would be bad because we wouldn't have as much beef to eat or milk to drink.

But, some people, like Chris Packham who is a wildlife presenter, disagrees and doesn't think that people should be allowed to cull badgers. He thinks that the badgers are not very harmful to cattle and that scientists are being horrible by killing them.

See what Chris has to say by clicking on this link ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8618852/Chris-Packham-urges-protest-against-badger-cull.html

What do you think?

Do you think badgers should be culled?


We hope that this won't happen to Barry, Bertie, Beatrice and Bella! We will do our best to make sure this doesn't happen to them!

 Look how cute they are!

 

 

Tell us what you think about this issue by posting a comment on this blog!

We hope to see you again soon!
Keep looking out for animals in your own gardens and we will keep you updated with our badger family here!

The team at Cogges.

Discovery! This is written as a hypothetical perspective (not a real situation)

Here at Badger base we are currently undergoing some construction work and have noticed that there is a group of badgers, (we have found out that the proper name for them is a cete) living in the grounds!

We have decided that it would be really cool to have a closer look at these badgers and see what they get up to and get to know their family and things!

We have found 4 badgers. Two of them are male (we have called them Barry and Bertie ) and two are female (we have called them Beatrice and Bella).

We have worked out that they are only about 18 months old (just a year and a half!) so they are quite young.

We are going to keep you updated with what they are up to by updating this blog as often as we can!


Visit again soon!

The team at Cogges.