Computer running Brockwatch badger records database
To keep tabs on the badger setts in our area, we have set up a computerised database. We use this database to keep records of:
Confirmed badger setts. These are setts which have been observed by Brockwatch sett recorders or other reliable people. For many of these setts we have detailed records with information on the location, number of entrance holes, habitat, soil type, evidence of use by badgers, and more besides.
Unconfirmed setts. These are possible badger setts, which have been reported but not confirmed. It is possible that some of these possible setts may not exist at all, while others may be fox earths or rabbit warrens which have been misidentified.
Dead badgers. Records of dead badgers – mainly road casualties – are a useful addition to sett records. Casualties recorded from an area where there is a sett on record, confirm that there is still badger activity in the area. Casualties recorded from an area where there are no setts on record, indicate that there may be an unrecorded sett which needs to be found and added to the records.
Other signs of badger activity. Records of other evidence of badger activity, such as footprints, latrines, hair caught in barbed wire fences etc, also helps us to build up a more complete picture of badger activity. As with records of dead badgers, records of other evidence can help us to locate previously unrecorded setts.
All these records are interlinked, and reports can be generated showing all evidence of badgers recorded for particular 1 kilometre grid squares, or 10 km grid squares. In addition, for every 1 kilometre grid square in our area, we are preparing assessments of the likelihood of unrecorded setts being present, based on the topography, habitat and geology of each grid square.
Brockwatch 