Striped Intruder at Nut Dell!

Last week our trail cameras at Eileen Soper’s Nut Dell caught some remarkable footage of badger behaviour.  Shortly before 5am, our cameras sprang into life capturing the dominant boar by the main sett entrance.  An intruding boar from another territory had ventured into Nut Dell, and our resident boar was having none of it.  What followed was a gripping sequence of pictures capturing the altercation, which lasted 23 seconds from start to finish:

The resident boar near the sett entrance is alerted to an intruder approaching.  Note the braced stance and the tension in the lower spine and the tail angle.

The intruding young boar appears from the right, displaying a non-aggressive posture with head lowered & legs slightly crouched.  However, our boar must see him off if he is to maintain his position as head of the Nut Dell clan.

Quick as a flash, the resident boar drops down and aims for the other’s throat; a disabling move if successful.

With a mouthful of his opponent’s neck fur pulled tight, he regains his balance…

Twists his head under for a better grip…

And in a martial arts style move, flips onto his back, dragging the intruder off-balance.

Although the intruder is standing, he is incapacitated by the potentially lethal jaw grip around his throat.  It’s clear who’s boss in Nut Dell.

Point made, the resident boar releases his grip, and the intruder turns to flee.

The resident boar sees the intruder off, lunging at his back and snapping at the base of his tail.

Having sent the intruder packing, the resident boar heads back to the sett with a confident stride.  Calm is restored at Nut Dell.

If this new boar appears again any time soon, it’s with the understanding of tonight’s lesson learned: if he wants to join the Nut Dell clan, he must accept his position of bottom of the pack for the time being.