A family of badgers has been captured on video leaving their sett at night, a rare sighting of the nocturnal omnivores.
For animal lovers it was an added treat to see the family indulging in some TLC or tender loving care.
A wildlife monitoring camera in a forest in the Mures Floodplain Natural Park western Romania showed the badgers enjoying each other’s company and raking some leaves into the sett, probably as insulation for the coming winter.
”Our characters are tender and caring with each other and their sett,” Romsilva said in the message accompanying the video.
Romsilva is the name of Romania’s national forest management authority.
The badger feeds on fruits, seeds, earthworms, or eggs and gathers food supplies in autumn which is stores in spacious underground setts for the long winter months.
The setts have tunnels up to 8 meters long, with special rooms for food supplies.
The Mures Floodplain Natural Park is one of two dozen national parks managed by Romsilva. It stretches from the city of Arad to the Hungarian border. It was created by the government in 2005 to protect and preserve the habitats and landscape diversity from the region.
Badgers are part of the same family as otters, weasels and ferrets.
Some badgers are killed for their pelts, or are caught in snares, or are poisoned or shot. Thousands are killed on the roads every year and some lose their setts and vital feeding areas to building development.
Hunting badgers for sport has been common in many countries. Badgers have been trapped commercially for their pelts, which have been used for centuries to make shaving brushes. Most badger hair comes from Chinese badger farms.
