Sharing the “twilight time” with a Badger

I have just finished reading the excellent and highly recommended “Badgerlands” written by Patrick Barkham.

It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the ecology of this wonderful mammal, the centuries old persecution and killing of it by humans and the more recent Government backed Badger cull and the science and politics surrounding it.

Given my recent encounters with my local Badgers, one passage in Patrick Barkham’s book was particularly meaningful.

He quotes the childhood memories of the author Horatio Clare who watched a Badger family whilst growing up on a farm in Herefordshire:

“We had known the edge of an evening wood as a Badger knows it. For that twilight time we had slipped the separation between us and the world. We were of the mountain and of the wood, and it was as though the animals, the wild creatures, had allowed it. It was bewitching.”

Quietly sharing the “twilight time” with a Badger is a privilege.

Photo: Badger at the British Wildlife Centre

As for the appalling and discredited Badger cull ….

At least the Conservative Party and the party of so-called Government, has at last, following sustained opposition and repeated presentation of robust scientific evidence, taken the decision to cease the Badger cull which started in 2013 and instead focus on vaccination in the fight to eradicate bovine TB .... "Badger cull to be replaced by vaccines in bovine TB fight".

On a lighter note ....

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature