Bags of Badgers

It was nice to get back into Poor Park woods this weekend. There was a brisk easterly which turned northerly but this subsided as the day went on. The temperature started out about 4C and rose to about 7C.

I had a couple of projects to do. But, as usual, I spent a good hour or so looking at the favourite track traps and areas of interest. The first ting that struck me was the fine carpet of green that was slowly spreading along the woodland floor. A couple of weeks ago, there was only the odd dog’s mercury sprouting up, but it was now literally covering the wood.

The damp, muddy pathways were awash with tracks, mainly fallow and muntjac, but there was also a few fox tracks. The small muntjac track above (right) is one of the smallest I’ve seen and can only be a new-born. Unlike other deer species in the UK, muntjac breed all the year round and as soon as the fawn is 6-months old, the doe will attempt to get pregnant again.

I was surprised at the number of badger tracks as well. Often there’s a few tracks but everywhere I looked there seemed to be a track.

I came to a conclusion that the local lay-up sett must be active and I was proved right by some good signs of activity at the sett, although I still think it’s just a lay-up sett and not a clan sett.

It was an ideal opportunity to try out my first project; a plaster-cast. I haven’t done one of these for a number of years and my first try was a bit of a disaster as I made the mixture far too runny. Shame – because that one was a good badger track. Was!

My next attempt was better and I got a reasonably good fallow track. Now I know the correct mix ratio, I’ll try a few more next week.

While the plaster was setting, I had a little snack. Bacon, egg and mushrooms in an edible plate.

My final project was to carve a spoon using just the new prototype Woodlife “Tracker” Knife. I’m more used to using a chopping method of creating a spoon with my leuku and finishing off with the puuku; so it was a bit of a challenge using a big heavy knife like the “Tracker” to do fine carving.

It did a great job though and once I’d sorted out the carving technique, it made short work of the birch. I found the knife was a little heavy for this kind of work, but I would much rather have a big heavy knife for other practical tasks.

Thanks for the visit.