Brock hard….

Last night I saw something I’ve never seen before. And it was bloody great. I’d gone for a bit of a drive – something I do now and again to clear my head, get away from the kids - and listen to a bit of Zepp….. very, very loudly.

I turned down a country lane – and there, curled up lying in the middle of the road was a young badger. It had obviously been hit by a car. It looked dead.

For some reason, I decided to stop the car right in front of it. That way, I could protect it from further harm it if it was, by a miracle still alive. All of a sudden, the badger twitched, jumped up and strolled across the road to safety. Tough or what? It looked fine – a bit wobbly, a bit shaky, but basically he looked OK. He sat down in the verge, checked himself over and ambled into the undergrowth.

I’ve never seen a live badger before, just road-kills. This guy was just immaculate, black and white stripes, grey flanks and a big black snout. What was really amazing though – this badger was only 800 yards from our house - which is on the A59, one of the busiest roads in the country.