I am always on the look out for new places to place my Bushnells, especially places that are on local, private land where they will be safe. I am lucky enough to know and get on well with the local land owners, who know and support what I am doing and are usually very interested in the footage that I obtain from their land. Last weekend I met another local land owner who was pleased to help me out and today I met him and we took four Bushnell Trail Cams for a little walk!
Most farmers are very ‘in tune’ with their land and it is always great to meet people who know what wildlife is around on their land and who are pleased to work alongside the wildlife. This farmer’s land has several badger setts and he took me to show me a couple of these. One runs along a thick hedgerow between two arable fields. The crops are high now, so it is difficult to get to these places. The sett exits were clear in the hedgerow and the foliage is broken and worn down making their pathways obvious. The hedge line was really deep, so these badgers have clear pathways along, inside the hedge. I clambered in, near to the track and set a Bushnell up inside, facing along the pathway. Although I have set one of the new 2012 HD Bushnells, with adjustable IR, I think I may still get some burn-out as the Bushnell was quite close to a lot of foliage… it will give me an idea of their movements.
We then walked across several fields (I hope I can remember my way back!) to a junction between three fields. This is where Matt has seen quite a few deer and the soft ground revealed that they are active in this area. Tracks through the tall crops also revealed some great badger tracks!
I set two trail cams up in this area, facing the tracks and along the hedgerow lines where the deer seem to be travelling.
Finally we went to what looks like a very active badger sett. There is a large open, cleared area in the crop with a huge, deep sett entrance. Lots of tracks around and signs of activity!
I set the final Bushnell up in the hedgerow, facing this area.
It is fantastic to look around local land that I have never visited and I am really excited about the possibilities on this land. Matt is happy for me to set my trail cams around here and to keep him up to date with what I capture. He will also let me know if her sees anything interesting. He is sure he has both barn owls and little owls on his land, so I am very much looking forward to learning more about this area and its wildlife in the coming months.
I plan on leaving the trail cams there until Friday at the earliest . I am going to be keen to see what I have captured in these new areas.