Following the discovery of hay trails where badgers have been dragging fresh bedding to their set, we trained the trap camera on the path that runs on the other side of the fence which seems to be the one down which all the hay was being dragged and so we presume leads directly to the sett. It runs along the thin strip of land at the top of the cliff before the land falls away very steeply.

We left the camera there for five days and here is a selection of what we got:

However, all was not well. A number of the foxes captured on the camera showed signs of having mange:

I have had a look at the website of the National Fox Welfare Society – nfws.org.uk – which has a lot of information on sarcoptic mange – caused by a mite that burrows into the skin and lays its eggs and will kill a fox horribly within four months if not treated.

Clearly action has got to be taken. I have sent an email to the Society, attaching the photos above and I understand that they are able to supply a medicine that you can add to jam sandwiches and leave out for the foxes. Jam or honey sandwiches are suggested because foxes have really sweet tooths and will gobble them down but cats don’t and so shouldn’t. But how about badgers?

I hate the thought of these animals suffering out there and am impatient to get down to sorting this out.