Evening Wildlife Watching Hide Update December 2025
- Harris Brooker
- Dec 15, 2025
- 2 min read
The second last hide update of the year, what a thing to say. Winter is here and there are still Badgers, Pine Martens and the Scottish Wildcat to see as well as a Wood Mouse. It’s definitely colder as everything winds back for the year, but there is still plenty going on.
Badgers
One night, for the first time in weeks, a Badger came from the left-hand side and sniffed around before going away. Later, the same individual returned and at one point it looked as though it would come in and feed properly, but instead it changed its mind. On another night, from the left-hand side a male Badger came in and fed for several minutes. It moved with a lumbering gait as it sniffed every log and piece of soil for food and after having its fill clambered over a low section of wall and was away.
Pine Martens
One night, the female Pine Marten kit came up from below the twin Lawson’s Cypresses and fed on the raised platform. It was now in its bushy winter coat, and its bib had turned a paler shade of yellow. It showed well for the guests and stayed still for long periods. However, it did leave the platform and go into the treetops, possibly spooked by the sound of the wind. Normally when the Pine Martens leave for the evening, they urinate to mark the area, but this time it hadn’t done so, which made me hopeful it might come back. It did, but then it did the same thing again, presumably for the same reason. At one point, I wondered if the Wildcat was there as this has sometimes caused it to flee in the past. After a while, it came back to feed and eventually it finally left by running along the log bridge, descending the Lawson’s Cypresses and disappeared.
Scottish Wildcat
The Scottish Wildcat has been seen near the hide, now in his bushy winter coat and looking larger than he was earlier in the year. Hopefully we’ll see more of him before 2025 is over. He’s been with us for two years now and long may we have him.
Other Wildlife
One night, unexpectedly given the cold and windy conditions, a Wood Mouse came out from a crack in the platform wall and it posed nicely as it searched for peanuts and dashed back into the safety of the wall.
If you would like to visit our Evening Wildlife Watching Hide go to: http://bit.ly/sw_EWW to book your place
Comments