Subject: [Tweeters] Additional adventures in filming birds during nighttime:
Date: Aug 6 22:59:54 2017
From: notcalm at comcast.net - notcalm at comcast.net



Tweets,



While filming poorwill a few weeks ago in near darkness, I saw a small animal foraging along a narrow gravel road about 150 feet from me.
I raised my binoculars and a bike light and watched what appeared to be a Corgi trotting toward me in far less than a straight line-making short stops while searching both sides of the road. As it approached, I noted black feet, then a striped head. I continued filming and suddenly realized it was no Corgi, it was a badger-the first I have seen.
I was pleasantly surprised, but also clueless about this species and had no idea if there was any risk to me. When it was directly in front of me and six feet away, I softy called what appears to be my brain's default response to unexpected, close encounters with unfamiliar animals during the night:
"hey, hey!" Some of you may remember that I did the same last year at this time, when a cougar approached me at close range while I was filming poorwill.
This female adult Badger stopped, looked directly at me, turned and trotted back down the road. I enjoyed the experience, but still do not know if there was any risk involved.
I had heard that they can be unpredictable in behavior if they feel threatened.
When I got home, I Googled "Badger"
And found the following, thought-provoking video: National Geographic "Badger Buries Cow in Shocking Video".



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https://www.google.com/amp/relay.nationalgeographic.com/proxy/distribution/public/amp/2017/03/badger-buries-entire-cow-carcass
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A conclusion-To paraphrase the Raven: If you encounter a badger at close range: Nevermoo
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Dan Reiff

Sent from my iPhone

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