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Investigating a badger baiting case in Snowdonia left Mal Ingham feeling slightly grubby, inside and out. As soon as he arrived home, he stripped off and took a bath.

“I needed to wash away the stench,” he said. “It was one of the worst cases I’d ever seen.”

Over the years he’s seen quite a few. Now 70, and retired from his job as Wirral Council’s Head Ranger and Wildlife Officer, he has been an expert witness in criminal prosecutions for more than three decades.

Seven years ago Mal moved to Denbighshire with wife Ann. Ever since he’s been just as busy. Working with the North Wales Police rural crime team, he’s often called to assess wildlife crime scenes and compile evidence in cases that invariably involve badgers.

Last month he spent six days in Llandudno court watching on as three men and one minor were convicted of badger baiting and animal fighting offences near Blaenau Ffestiniog.

His report was critical to the prosecution. For this reason, he’s asked the Daily Post not to disclose where he lives for fear of retribution.

(Image: Robert Parry Jones)

No stranger to police protection, Mal would nevertheless prefer not to attract too much attention from disgruntled baiters and diggers. “I’m not well liked by them,” he said with a degree of understatement.

“But it won’t stop me doing what I do. If I get threats, I know I’m getting under their skin. Getting a conviction gives me a lot of satisfaction.”

Born in Lancashire, Mal’s first job was as a ranger at the Forest of Bowland. Moving to the Wirral, he rose to head the local authority’s ranger team and, uniquely, was appointed its “wildlife rehabilitation officer”.

(Image: North Wales Police rural crime team)

In this dual role he looked after sick, injured and mistreated wild animals. Others that fell into his care included the confused and plainly lost, such as a forlorn swan found wandering along the hard shoulder of the M53.

All were nursed back to health in pens and aviaries on Wirral Country Park before being returned to their natural habitals. For barn owls, this meant a trip to Denbighshire, its forests and moorlands so redolent of Mal’s native county.

“My wife and I loved the place and had decided to move there long before my retirement offered us the chance,” said Mal. “I did however think that, in retirement, I would soon die of boredom.”

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He needn’t have worried. Within days of moving to North Wales he was being asked to free a badger trapped in barbed wire. Invitations to give talks soon followed, and then the NWP rural crime team came knocking. He now sits on North Wales Wildlife Trust’s conservation committee.

His biggest passion, however, is the wildlife that surrounds his home, from furtive polecats to peanut-munching badgers.

Time-served field craft skills told him that plenty were passing through his garden and, determined to see more of their nocturnal ramblings, he bought and rigged up a movement-triggered trail camera.

That was five years ago. He now has a dozen cameras. Some are on neighbouring land, others in local woodlands. All are on private property, well away from public footpaths and light-fingered passersby.

(Image: Robert Parry Jones)

Mal has become such an expert that he now tests camera equipment for NatureSpy, a Llangollen social enterprise that researches and protects wildlife.

Several times a week he retrieves memory cards from his camera traps. “Each time I can be left with 300 individual videos, each 60 seconds long,” he said.

“It takes two or three hours to wade through them all. It’s like watching paint dry. But you do it because you don’t want to miss that vital piece of footage.”

Such as rare Willow Tits, filmed for the first time in Denbighshire. Or badgers and otters crossing paths, and birds of prey swooping on their prey. Or otters, filmed on a neighbouring farm which stunned its wildlife-loving owner.

(Image: Mal Ingham)

Mal’s favourite is a clip showing a badger sow attempting to navigate a log straddling a stream with her two cubs. “She got the first cub across but the second was reluctant,” he said.

“She tried to pick it up by its scruff but then the first one started to come back and was accidentally knocked into the water.

“The sow rushed to fish it out. Their screams caused the badger calvary to arrive – family members, others unrelated.

“Not only was the clip dramatic, it showed a different side to badger behaviour that had never been seen before.”

Life beyond the back door, with its domestic squabbles and playful fighting, can also be humorous and heart-warming. For Mal, it is a welcome antidote to the video nasties he must endure as an expert crime witness.

A sow in the sett probably with tiny cubs & now receptive to mating again-this boar senses this but she's not interested.

But does his perseverance pay off? Watch this space! pic.twitter.com/Wbzh2Cvnq8 — Mal Ingham (@ingham_mal) February 12, 2018

Mal's tips for recording wildlife on camera

Mal’s first trail camera was a basic Bushnell which cost him around £100 and is still going strong.

Since then the market has proliferated. Other manufacturers have entered the fray and the number of models can be bewildering.

Wifi-enabled cameras with huge resolutions can cost more than £500, though most are in the £100-£300 range.

Mal advises getting a model that suits its intended purpose.

“If you want the best video footage you can get, you’ll need one with HD,” he said.

“But if you just want stills, a cheaper camera will do.”

While Mal still likes his old Bushnells, he’s not a fan of the brand’s latest cameras. He recently tested five US-made Brownings and loved them.

“For quality and trigger speeds, they’re hard to beat,” he said.

His biggest tip is to chose placement wisely. Novice users often complain their cameras fire indiscriminately, recording hours of nothing.

“A blade of grass or a leaf blowing in the wind will set them off,” said Mal.

“When setting up my cameras I often do a bit of ‘selective gardening’ to prevent false triggers.”