“I’m Harris, I have recently started with Speyside Wildlife as the new guide of our Evening Mammal Hide near Aviemore in the Cairngorms. During my first few weeks I have spent a lot of time in the hide monitoring our Badgers and Pine Martens feeding patterns and the Badgers are reliable visitors, although who turns up varies and sometime the individuals will come in at different times or altogether! With the winter weather arriving, the Badgers have been coming in with the snow as well - quite a sight given that we usually think Badgers will be underground more often in winter and it was a scene I really wanted to capture.
The Pine Martens are a bit less predictable, though I have had several chances to observe them from our hide. There are at least three different individuals we know of and two of them have appeared. I met the female first with three brown spots on her bib, then I encountered the slightly larger male. Both are nervous if the Badgers show up, even though they’re high up on the platform but they will often feed at the same time.
I have also seen two of the Badgers getting into some fisticuffs with one another; it looked like one of them was trying to mate with the other and there was some snapping going on. I’m going to enjoy getting to know our local mammals and hope to see you there soon.”
You can find more details and book our Evening Mammal Hide here.