Chapter 1: What wildlife has Gustavo Zoladz observed in Dublin?
Now, Terry Flanagan, you were out and about this week doing some reports. Yes, we had an email in from an old friend of the programme, Gustavo Zolads. He's a wildlife fanatic and I've been out with him on a number of occasions. We were watching foxes, we've been watching owls and peregrine falcons all across the city of Dublin.
Well, he has recently discovered two badger sets along the River Dodder. Interestingly, both are on different sides of the river and both groups of badgers don't seem to interact with each other. Gustavo invited me down to observe their behaviour and during the week I met Gustavo for a spot of badger watching.
Terry, can you see that mound of earth there on the other side of the river?
It looks like a kind of a cup-shaped mound of earth. It's completely surrounded by trees, by sycamore trees. I can't see anything in it. That is the set, is it? Yeah, that's right. That's exactly what it is. And it's about two or three, maybe four metres high.
above the height of the river here yeah maybe a bit more i think it's about four meters above where the water is at the moment and this is where you've seen the badgers correct yeah that's the place how many we've seen five or six around that set there's a lot of activity i think there is a couple of entrances we can't see the others because it's very dense it's very thick
It is very thick here.
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Chapter 2: What did Gustavo discover along the River Dodder?
I'm just looking at the undergrowth. There's no way you'd walk towards it. There's no way humans could get towards it. So there's no way that there's any disturbance on that side of the river. Correct, which is fantastic because it's not open to the public. When did you first notice this set or activity on this set?
This year I have been watching it for two weeks and then last year we came a couple of times to try to see them but it was a bit more in the summer so you just couldn't see anything. It was totally covered with vegetation.
And what you've discovered here along the Dodder as well, too, because we're in a very, very built-up area here in Dublin, is that there is another set on this side of the river and only about 100 metres from here.
That's right. Exactly. Yeah. So there is another one which we suspect must be a different family.
Right.
Because I don't think they will cross the river.
Yeah, I don't think badgers cross the river.
I don't think they go from one to another one. Like, you know, the way sets might have different entrances. So families might have both kind of satellite sets and they go from one to another one. I speculate that this one is a different one altogether.
Okay. And when these appear, when the badgers appear, what do they do? They head off then for the night? Is that it?
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Chapter 3: How many badger setts are located along the River Dodder?
Have you seen the set, for instance?
no i have an idea of where this is located but very limited access because of the geography and vegetation that it's there so i have an idea what it is but the actual entrance to the set you can't see it yeah and of course we're looking over the river so that the bank is underneath us and it's it's difficult to see openings on it and it's also darker now it's it's a good bit darker
We've seen some bats go over and we heard the blackbird and the dust chorus. But at the moment, we're still waiting for some badger activity.
Yes, these usually come a bit later, but they will come out. Do you think they're trying to avoid the ones on the far side? I don't think so. I think they just can't... They're very social animals.
Or maybe it's because of the human activity. There's human activity on this side of the dodder, but not on the far side.
So I'd say that has something to do with it. And that's the reason maybe they wait and it's really quiet. The ones on the other side, it's just that you have no chance to get anywhere near them.
Look across there. There's one actually running up along the pathway there. Did you see that? Yeah, yeah. And he's gone in now to the... I didn't actually see where he came from. But he was literally out on the path here.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've seen them doing that before. But it's difficult, you know, when they're out because you don't get to see.
It was really nice to see it because it was on very, very short grass here. So that you get a great view of it in motion. Whereas normally... It's like what we saw half an hour ago. They're in thick undergrowth and it's very slow movement.
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Chapter 4: What is the behavior of badgers when they come out at night?
Although I don't know how long these have been here for. They probably have been here for quite a while. But the tracks look that they are very well used.
And, of course, it's quite mild tonight. No, look, Terry, look behind you, behind you. I see, yeah. It's actually on the far side of the fence and it's moving along. It's probably, what, three metres from us?
Yeah, more or less. And you might have noticed that even though they are not... where they are they're having cases where they are doing their own thing you can hear them people walk by and they just carry on it's just the one is it this one was only one like I've seen two up to three two to probably three that's not the same one now that we saw running down about five minutes ago
Ah, I was trying to think about it.
It's difficult to know for sure. Yeah, because he ran away from us. This one was walking towards us, but that one was up to 100 metres away by the time it ducked back into the hedgerow again. Yes, but they can move quite quickly, so...
It could be the same.
He just seems to be moving along there now. There's a cyclist coming up here. He's got his light on his bike. I'm watching the badger. He just doesn't seem to be affected by it. Yeah, no.
These seem to be more used to human activity. I've seen them sometimes react and go back to the undergrowth. But I've seen other cases where... Once quite late last week, they were just outside, they were feeding. A cyclist just was cycling by. The badger was just watching at the cyclist. Didn't even move.
See, I always thought of badgers as being, I won't say scared, but very nervous. I hear this one. Look, look, there's one actually coming right up at us. Oh, yeah. Just going to stop talking. Talk very quietly for a second. He's about 20 metres away. He's now after ducking in under the fence again.
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