The best time to catch this shy mammal is dusk or night. Seeing one depends on your patience and your ability to remain quiet. There are about 400,000 badgers distributed across the UK. Badger paths and setts (their homes) are easily identifiable, but the testing part is waiting for the badger to show. A history of being hunted has made the badger wary of unknown noises and smells.

The Eurasian badger has a black furry coat with a striking white and black-striped head, white-tipped ears and claws that can cause havoc in your garden. The male (boars) weigh about 12kg, the females (sows) are smaller and weigh less. They'll eat pretty much anything - worms, insects, grubs, small mammals, reptiles, as well as roots, cereals and fruit.

Badgers have a bad reputation among farmers for spreading bovine TB among cattle, but the evidence remains inconclusive.

Where they live

Badgers make their homes on the borders of woodland and fields and prefer sloping ground for drainage reasons. Setts can have as many as 30 entrances and are formed from many interconnected tunnels. They are abundant in the south-west, but also found in the east of England and parts of Scotland. In Oxfordshire, head to College Barn Farm, Sibford Gower, Banbury, where there are three badger-watching hides. Devon Badger Watch in East Stoodleigh Barton is also great for spotting them.

How to spot them

Early summer is a good time to go looking, when the cubs are active and before the undergrowth gets too thick. Go out in daylight to find a good viewing position (make sure it's not on a badger path). To differentiate badger setts from rabbit warrens, Trevor Lawson from the Badger Trust advises: "There are more earthworks around a sett and large piles of soil. The inside of the rabbit hole will narrow very quickly, whereas the badger hole is distinctively broad with a D-like shape at the end.

"Look out for footprints too; badgers create distinct paths. Go up close to barbed wire and keep an eye out for little tufts of black/grey badger hair; if you roll it in your fingers it will have a ridged feel."

Return to the spot an hour before sunset and take a torch (cover the lamp with red cellophane so they can't see it). If a badger hears, sees or smells you coming it will stay in the burrow. When you find a sett sit 10 to 15 metres away and downwind.

Listen out for

Sniffing, scratching or rustling. They also make a noise called wickering, a mix between a growl and a squeak, when interacting.

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