Woodland stories: Bill the badger

Badgers love to spend hours sharpening their digging tools

As autumn descends across Lancashire, wildlife photographer Chris Beever moves away from the riverbank and into the woodlands to spy on our furry friends.

Chris chose his favourite local woodland and headed off - bacon butty in hand - in search of badgers.

But he got plenty of surprise visits from lots of other forest creature before finding the badger family preparing for breakfast.

Chris tells us how he got on...

With summer drawing to a close and the first gusts of the cold autumn morning air turning the trees into colourful works of art, I sadly leave my riverbank friends for another year and head into another favourite habitat of mine - the woodlands and forests of our great county.

Cheese and pickle

We are blessed in Lancashire to have some of the most spectacular woodlands and forests in the UK, some small enough for a mid morning ramble and some large enough to keep the family entertained for the whole day, and where there is woodland you are sure to find the wildlife that use it as a last refuge against the building population of us humans.

This time I was heading to very old haunt of mine deep in the Lancashire countryside, I had been visiting this small woodland since I was a young lad often getting up before first light and hopping on to my now sadly rusted BMX bike loaded up with my favourite cheese and pickle sandwiches, ready to see my old friends the badgers.

It is a sad fact that not many people have seen a truly wild badger due to their nocturnal habits, but for some like me that go out and track them - and the chosen few that are visited by them at home - the reward is truly magical.

With my early morning jolt of caffeine and bacon butty in hand I jumped into my old van and headed off.

TIPS & TRICKS Badgers can be found in most woodlands or forests in the UK - they are constantly turning up in unexpected places such as the edge of industrial estates and motorway verges Badgers are messy eaters and they love to spend hours sharpening their digging tools. If you want to find them look for old rotten logs that have been broken up, as badgers love to root round for grubs and worms hiding in the trees' bark Search your woodland for badger tracks, look at the edge of streams and rivers that run through woodlands or forests and you might be lucky enough to find badger prints left when the badgers come down for a drink during the night If you find a likely spot, bait it with plenty of peanuts or raisins and return that night to see if the badgers come out to your chosen spot but remember to sit downwind so the badgers don't get a whiff of your scary human scent Whatever you do if you find a badger set please do not approach, find a little safe spot at least 20 metres away, place your peanuts and raisins and wait patiently for the badgers come to you. If you do this over time you will be blessed by regular visits from your inquisitive hungry badgers Please tell no one apart from your local badger group of your secret set locations as there are some non-nature lovers out there that may cause harm to your local badger set

As I entered my part of wooded Lancashire I stopped to listen to my friends the tawny owls just getting into a serenading repertoire of twit woo or as I call it I love you.

With a neck creaking look up into the tree tops I smiled as one of the cuddling twosome turned its head like a dalek and looked down at me with its big black eyes only to let out a series of soft hoots as though to say "will you turn that light off you're giving me a headache." I of course obliged.

With my head torch turned off I made my way to my little hideaway. With my eyes gradually getting used to the dark I could see a small herd of roe deer in the distance taking the opportunity to take an early morning drink from a little stream before retiring for the day well out of harms way, a multitude of scampering wood mice darted across my path letting out little squeaks as they disappeared into the brambles.

Climbing into my hide I was confronted by a multitude of spiders' webs including big fat resident hunters and the presence of different sized daddy long legs making my hide their home. After serving countless eviction notices and getting my comfy dwelling back in order I finally sat down to await the arrival of my black and white bundles of fun.

There is something about the dark especially when you are sat in the middle of an eerie woodland all alone that brings out the primal fear in us humans and I can honestly say that at times I have been chilled by the unknown force that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

After waiting for an age and after finishing my a la carte menu of cheese, pickle and bacon combined sandwiches - ooh and bottle of pop, my old friends started to arrive.

Bellies full

One after the other my old chums rooted through the recently fallen leaves in search of the little treats of peanuts and raisins I had scattered the night before, and with bellies full it was morning playtime for the youngest members of the family.

Today it seemed that it was going to be a game of chase your dad around the tree, and as the big senior badger hurtled round in a large circle being chased by two smaller youngsters I was finding it really hard not to laugh out loud.

On one occasion one of the unwary youngsters got a bit too close and bumped straight into the front of my hide and with a stunned worried look up as though to say that's a weird tree he quickly ran off to join the rest of the group only to be told off by his dad who gave him a quick clip round the ear.

I watched as some of the grown ups worked in teams of two busily gathering dry leaves in bundles and then making their way backwards dragging their new bedding in front of them to give there set a 60 minute makeover.

With all the nuts and goodies gone and with all the young uns rounded up and put in their place, it was family scratch time.

In my years watching these enigmatic creatures it has always surprised me how much these charming black and white bundles of joy like to scratch, from the tips of their toes to the back of their ears no patch of fur is left unscratched and when you have done your own scratching it's time to have a go at one of the family.

If you find a likely spot, bait it with plenty of peanuts or raisins

The young cubs revelled in the attention given by the senior members of the badger group lying on their backs and letting out giggles. They wiggled their back legs as the family members groomed their fur, once they had all had a turn and the inspection was over it was time for one last play before bedtime.

With the first rays of light gradually brightening up the woodland, and with the first sounds of human activity coming from the early morning dog walkers and joggers entering the woodland, the youngsters where quickly escorted back into the undergrowth and back home ready for a good day's sleep deep underground.

As usual Bill the old man of the group had another hour scratching as though to relax in the calm of the early morning. He sat in the rays of dappled autumn sunlight gently stroking his belly, and then with a summoning grunt from his mate waiting at the set he too quickly disappeared into the undergrowth.

My day once again had started with a rewarding wildlife encounter and with a couple of shots for my collection I made my way home to return to my own set to catch up on some well earned sleep.

Article sent in by Chris Beever