Now is time to see night animals by day

MOST people interested in wildlife are more familiar with birds than with animals. This is because most of our bird species are active during the day and sleep at night, while our wild mammals tend to be wholly or partially nocturnal.

Because the latitude of our island is more than 50 degrees north, we have great opportunities for observing nocturnal creatures in daylight, at the middle of the year. For the next eight to ten weeks, the nights will be too short for nocturnal animals to get enough food and they will emerge well before dusk and stay active until well after dawn. So, if you’re interested in the creatures of the night that inhabit your neighbourhood, now is the time to plan an expedition to watch them in daylight.

Badgers are one of our most fascinating large mammals, and one of the species most committed to the nocturnal lifestyle. There is a bonus to watching badgers in mid-summer — you might see a sow with young cubs. Most baby animals are endearing, and baby badgers particularly so.

Most Irish badgers are born in March or late February in an underground maternity chamber and they are blind and helpless. After six to eight weeks they become active, venturing above ground. They are weaned at 12 weeks and then the mother starts taking them on foraging expeditions around the territory and teaching them the basics of survival. This should all be starting in the next couple of weeks. The best way to watch badgers is to stake out an active sett. If you don’t know where to find one, you’ll have to search. This is not so difficult. Most badger setts are in woodland — though it is sometimes more of a grove than a wood — and, in deforested parts of the country, they will make do with a thick, mature hedge. Badgers make pathways through their territory; paths they patrol every night and which lead back to the sett. They are easy to recognise when your eyes know what to look for.

If you’re not sure whether the road you’re following was made by a badger or some other animal, check out low, thorny branches and briars, or barbed wire, for hairs. The long, guard hairs are whitish at the base, have a black band in the middle and are pale at the tip. The under-fur is grey.

Badgers also make distinctive footprints, with the five claws lined up in parallel like the teeth of a rake. When you’ve found your sett you should arrive at it at least half an hour before dusk; probably earlier around the solstice. Wear dark clothing that doesn’t rustle and pick a spot downwind 20 or 30 metres away from the entrance. The important thing is not to show a silhouette and sitting in front of a tree is often more effective than hiding behind it.

Badgers have excellent hearing, so you will have to be quiet. Hopefully, they will appear quite soon, and, typically, they will spend 20 minutes to half an hour grooming, scratching and interacting, before they set off on their nightly patrol. Scattering peanuts around — the type used in bird feeders — may delay them. When they leave, you may as well go, too, and, hopefully, you’ve remembered to bring a flashlight, so you can find your way home through a dark wood. In mid-summer, you may also need midge repellent, or, better still, a head veil.

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