somewhat inexplicably i do try to "mix up" that of which i write about here. rather strange really, for mostly i just do this out of habit, or more so for me to "get it out of my system", with you all reading it being an unexpected and very much added bonus, look you see. and yet it appears trends form, and of late that has been, to certain ways, watching the wildlife.
pretty much as the title suggests (or explicitly states) i saw a badger recently, then. quite by chance and indeed accident. this is a matter i have chosen to make perfectly clear, and to do so is for reasons i shall discuss later. many of you, of course, will know immediately and exactly why it is a good idea to stress that you, if UK (specifically England) based, were not deliberately seeking such a creature.
circumstances of this (most splendid) sighting? once again i was off, far and away, for the purposes or intent of verk. rather than have me travel to and from such for some ten (10) or so hours of each day, they elect, if not opt, to put me in hotels near where such verk shall be. lovely stuff. at various times of any evening in such, i shall have every reason to be outside momentarily, so as to enjoy a cigarette. or two. in one instance of this, i heard a peculiar sound from a grassy like area, so went to inspect.
yes, i am very much aware that it is not the greatest picture above. and that one was taken with the flash in the "on" position. a lesser (or "fewer") quality one sans flash is somewhere below. no, sadly, i did not take an image in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, for i did not believe it appropriate, and also it would have come out very much "none more black".
if i have (or had) seen a badger out in "the wild", doing its thing, then it shall be of such a long time since passed (past) that i cannot recall it. so yes, i did consider it quite splendid and remarkable to have been given this chance to see one. quite large, they are, or at least somewhat larger than i had imagined. not that i have spent all that much time considering how big a badger might be, or get. badger size, i suppose, whenever i have given thought to the subject.
most of the wildlife roaming our land has become wary to the ways of humans. as such, then, i kind of knew it would be skittish and somewhat put out if i overtly disturbed it. whilst i didn't really fear being attacked by the badger (no clue if they do or don't believe they are hard enough to come and have a go) it did feel like i was intruding already, and i had no wish to scare it off. but of course i did end up getting a bit too close, and so the badger noticed me and ran away, at some formidable speed.
before that happened i was, verily and merrily, able to get a little bit of video (yes, we've got a video) for you, as you can see with a click above. sort of see, i guess, for indeed it was rather well into the business end of the evening. my assumption is that badgers kind of roam around in darker times, for reasons of stealth and not wishing to be disturbed. for all i know they could well be nocturnal by nature anyway, i have not read up on it and if you have well that's amazing, man.
not all that much of the natural, or indeed introduced, wildlife of our divisive isles is set up or designed to try and kill us. bit peculiar, that, and makes us somewhat different from other countries. there's Australia, for instance, where every living thing has the power, potential and very much the passion to try and slay you where you stand. or sit. at a purely speculative guess American wildlife is going to be something like 50/50. no, not really interested in France. it's probably too dull to have any sort of natural wildlife anyway, and i expect all there just withers and dies of boredom anyhow.
and so to the very delicate subject of why i stress this was a purely accidental, if not fluke, badger sighting. back a few years ago, say the 80s or early 90s, there was a spate of incidents of gentlemen being found, congregating if you like, in places like heaths and parks, mostly around that there London place. at two, or three, in the morning. a number of these gentlemen were of prominent positions in society, be it members of parliament or senior ranking levels of the judiciary. every now and then it was to be that representatives of the constabulary would be alerted to this, go and investigate (back when the police actually really did so), find the men and ask of them what it is they were doing. routinely the answer would be that they had a concern for the welfare of badgers in the area, and were checking up on them. when asked why, exactly, they were doing so with either their trousers falling loose, or absent entirely, answers along the lines of not wishing to startle the badgers were not accepted at face value.
let me assure you, as you take in that picture above taken sans flash, that yes, i very much had my trousers on at the time of this incident. also, to the very best of my knowledge, no other gents were around at the time. that said, indeed there was a sort of heath like area close by, but i felt it best not to wander up to it and check.
do i have any chance or intention of future (rather than past) wildlife spotting? potentially. no real ambitions as such, but i believe i'd like the chance to see further aquatic, or marine (if you like) based creatures of the world. yet to do so without getting wet might be a bit complex.
until the next instance of my being of a feeling to compose, then.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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