Mid May and another small badger arrived on its own. I had become quite used to seeing Blondie, Patch and April arriving together or not very far apart but this was a new one. Not very big and it had a sandy coloured body, a wide head stripe and fluffy ears. It would happily claw its way through my flower beds and would dig out the grout between the paving slabs so it became known as Truffle. It also seemed totally unphased by me opening the door and throwing out various nuts and grapes. Unlike the others this one was not fussy and liked bananas, apples, grapes and peanuts (cat food still rejected by all of them).

Most nights the badgers would arrive with muddy noses, which was a good sign that they were finding natural sources of food and happily fending for themselves. By speaking to some neighbours I found where the sett was and worked out how far they were travelling, one neighbour also kindly showed me the huge holes the badgers had dug in his garden (which he was not bothered about) and the path they had worn through the lawn by doing their regular circuit.