THE ENCROACHMENT, THE HOLES: BADGERS AT TEMPLE BALSALL, 29TH APRIL...

 The Encroachment, The Holes…

Drizzle spilled from dismal clouds

And pre-dusk dullness dampened the cause,

As feet trudged paths of mown grass

To the scattered setts in a grim copse.

Then, puzzled, a badger’s face peered ‘tween shrouds

Of newly grown foliage and gorse,

Sensing the watching. But the moment passed

And it emerged with only the slightest pause…

Members of the cete began to spill

From holes:

Adults and cubs probed

As the lure of peanuts loosened their secretive will

Around holes;

And out badgers spewed, until

Between holes,

Dim figures scavenged through the still

Undergrowth to feed…

As one cub tumbled into

A hole

With a slump,

An adult approached,

Unconcerned upon a worn path near

A safe hole,

Then encroached beneath barbed wire, 

Stared across the narrow lane

And finally turned, scuttling away

To the safety of its sett

And disappeared without fear

Into a gaping hole…

Pete Ray

1st May 2021

Thursday 29th April, Temple Balsall, Warwickshire and one badger felt comfortable enough to emerge clearly from the undergrowth, as clan individuals busied themselves around the sett in the background.

One cub tumbled into a hole with a thud and another adult shot out of a hole, having likely been given a shove or a bite from behind…

Special moments…