Brown hare on The South Downs Way
The recent dry spell of weather is causing all sorts of problems for our local wildlife. Take this poor hare. He should be hidden below waist-high crops, but all the fields are dry and brown. Nothing seems to be growing and the drought is making life hard for our Badgers too.
Hungry Badgers
Badgers like to eat the worms, grubs and creepy-crawlies that live in the damp leaf-litter on the forest floor. But the woods are incredible dry at the moment. Too dry for worms to be at the surface, so they’ve gone deep underground, making it hard for Mr Badger to find his dinner.
We’ve seen lots of badgers out in the daytime on the slopes below Bepton Down. Quite unusual – they’re normally very shy and nocturnal. I can’t remember seeing them in the daytime like this before, and they’re almost certainly out looking for food in daylight.
Our dog has had two run-ins with old Brock (which isn’t good for either badger or dog!) though I’m pleased to say both were ok – more of a stand-off than an full-on scrap.
Here’s a hungry Badger playing a game of statues with me – we both stood completely still for a few minutes before he bottled it and ran away!
Bepton Ranger 