Badgers

Badger

Spare a thought for our British badgers today as the second year of the four year trial cull begins. If you haven't come to this blog from the BWC blog, then head over there to find out more about it. This is just to show off some pictures of badgers without the negativity.

Badger

We currently have two badgers at the Centre, above is our female Honey.

Badger

When first discovered they were thought to be a member of the bear family, but are in fact the largest member of the weasel family living in the UK.

Badger

The badger is one of the worlds fastest digging mammals.

Mushroom, mushroom

How did that get in here?..

Badger, Meles meles

Half of their diet is made up of earth worms, and they can eat over 200 in one night while looking while out foraging.

Badger cubs

Even from day one they have the classic black and white striped face they are so well known for.

Young Badger

It is that classic marking they have that makes them one odour most iconic animals! Even if you have never seen a badger before, most people know they have a black and white striped face... and it is the logo of the Wildlife Trusts.

Young Badger

Rarely seen out in the day, they are a very shy, secretive and nocturnal animal. Our badgers having been hand reared come out in the afternoon to forage and play, and are visible in their sett during the mornings and winter.

Badger in the Snow

Despite what many think, badgers do not actually hibernate. They cut down their activity a lot, and spend far more time underground keeping warm during the winter months, but do still venture out to look for food.

Winter Badger

Badgers have a delayed implantation. They can mate anytime of year, but will always give birth early the following year usually around the end of February early March.

Badger through a Fish-eye

I had to finish on a fish eye photograph didn't I. It seems the ones I take with this lens are love it / hate it photos.

Thanks for looking.

What to expect...

Grinning Fox

Welcome all to my new blog, "Matt's Photos". I am looking at this blog as a sister blog to the BWC Keepers Blog, and as a place to share some more of my photos. For more about this blog click the link above. There are also links above to find out more about me, the camera gear I use and links to the BWC blog and my photo sharing sites etc.

For this first post I thought I would just show you ten photos from over the years. These will give you and idea of what to expect on this sister blog. Hope you enjoy.

Above is a photo of Flo our friendly fox, taken with a wide angle lens which gives it an almost comical feel. This was the first photo I took which I was REALLY pleased with. It took a while to grow on me, but is now one of my favourites. It is a lovely portrait, but a little different. Not taken with a remote trigger as many think, I was actually behind it at the time.

Winged Assassin of Bluebell Wood

Above is Florence flying over the bluebells. I have been lucky enough to have many photographs in the papers over the years, but this is possibly the most famous.

Day Old Badger Cubs

Working at the BWC I am lucky to see many unusual or very rare sights. Above is not a great photo, but it is something I like showing people. It is of two, one day old badger cubs. Even from day one you can see that they have the classic black and white striped face!

Lucy Flying a Barn Owl

I have a very hard working and dedicated team of keepers, that work hard to maintain the high standards of welfare and presentation we have at the Centre. It is like photographing them in action, and if possible unaware, to get more natural poses. It is good for the records and as souvenirs. It is a shame the barn owl was moulting above and so had half a tail, but you can only work with what you have got.

Dance of the Adders

Different behaviours are always fascinating to me, and arguably my most anticipated every year is the "Dance of the Adders". This is one I took in the first year I had a camera, and still possibly my favourite. Taken from outside the enclosure, and so shows the great opportunities you can get here even with out the exclusive access of our photo days.

Fox Smelling Daffodil

My favourite fox, Pickles, sadly non longer with us. Sniffing the daffodils. This is the first photograph I took that got noticed and encouraged people who have never been to the Centre to follow my photography.

Autumn Hedgehog

 I love using the light, and backlight in particular. I also love colour, and the above shows both nicely.

Fisheye Otter on Ice

I was once told that a fisheye lens is good, but you can't use it for wildlife. After this I was determined to prove them wrong. I love my fisheye lens. It takes great quirky portraits, but can also be used well in other ways. The above is my most highly awarded photo, being Highly Commended in 2012's British Wildlife Photographer of the Year. It was amazing to see it in the gallery alongside other great amateur, and many amazing professional photographers work.

Beautiful Bonnie

One of my first, and still one of my favourite, of all photos. Showing Bonnie, the pine marten, off to her beautiful best. It is not the best technically, but still I love it and that is all that matters.

Vole's Eye View

The editing I do is minimal, and tends to only be slight tweaks in levels and cropping. Apart from the obvious photoshopped images for fun, I could probably count on one hand the number of images I have actually "manipulated". The above is one of the ones I did manipulate, it is also a little soft and not of high quality. But it is unusual, different, and so one of my favourites.

Thanks for looking.