Introduction 

This year will be remembered by some of us as the year in which badgers featured heavily in the Scottish press. This coverage was due to the hot dry spring and summer which caused great difficulties for the badgers. All this exposure in the media helped raise public awareness of badgers in Scotland and this ensured that interest in the badger hide was maintained at a high level.

The Hide 

Early in the season we attempted to make the windows more photography friendly but the modifications caused more problems than they solved so the original panes were reinstated.

Last years report said we would purchase a second solar panel to give the reserve lighting system a power supply of its own. However, the old temporary lighting system was in such a poor state it was decided to replace and rewire the lighting units before doing anything else. The resulting increased efficiency of the system was so marked that the new panel seemed unnecessary. However, in the dull autumn weather our existing panel struggled to charge the battery up fully so we will probably add a second panel next year and replace one faulty battery with a pair of new ones.

The Badgers 

Our furry friends have had a tough time of it this year, and although there has been a slight increase in the average number of badgers seen per night at the hide, our numbers are still well below those of a few years ago. We now believe climate change to be a major factor in this. Hot, dry springs and summers have caused a shortage of worms, which normally form a major part of the badger's diet, both for food and water. This deprivation has resulted in a significant drop in badger breeding success right across the UK. A high percentage of cubs born in the last two or three years have died of starvation because their parents could not feed them. This situation has been made worse by badgers having to forage further afield than normal for food and water and being knocked down by cars on roads that they would not normally need to cross.

Some of these road victims are collected for examination, and it is clear from the thin, dehydrated condition of some of these animals that they were starving. In one pathetic case the badger only weighed 5 kilogrammes, which is less than half of what it should have weighed at that time of year.

Nevertheless our guests were entertained brilliantly by the few badger that we have. At various times we have seen the badgers mating, fighting, playing, tunnelling, changing the bedding, marking each other and having a good scratch.

Users 

Our guests comprised a similar mix to previous years with the usual organisations and businesses making block bookings to include an evening of badger watching in their progammes. These regular groups included the Heatherlea Birdwatching Centre, Moray Firth Wildlife Centre, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and the RSPB.   

However, the largest group of users was the general public.

The Statistics

                             
Other species seen from the hide included mice, voles, shrews, foxes, mink, otters, pine martens, roe deer, rabbits, hares, bats, tawny owls, barn owls, long-eared owls, little owls, buzzards, kestrels, ospreys, goldeneye ducks, mallards, tufted ducks, widgeon, mergansers, goosanders, greylag geese, curlews, oystercatchers, dippers, grey herons, common sandpipers, robins, long tailed tits, sand martins, red wings, cuckoos, pidgeons, woodcock, moths and salmon.

Money 

The hide does not cost a fortune to maintain and therefore once we have bought the new solar panel, replaced the faulty battery and purchased paint for the annual spruce up there should be enough left over for another donation to a worthy wildlife cause.

Thanks 

Finally, my thanks go to all those who have contributed to the continued success of the hide. I am especially grateful to the Birkbeck family who own the land and the Cruickshank family who farm the land, without whose indulgence we would not be able to offer such a wonderful wildlife experience to members of the public. I also wish to thank the Cuthbert and O'Reilly families who stepped in to guide groups when I was unavailable.

Allan Bantick
Honorary Manager, Strathspey Badger Hide             November 2003