In conversation with Rachel Bigsby, wildlife photographer and natural history broadcaster
- Badger Trust Staff Team
- May 10, 2023
- 6 min read
Learn about responsible badger photography, how badger cubs respond to thunderstorms, and what a badger and a balloon have in common!
Rachel Bigsby is a wildlife photographer, natural history broadcaster, wildlife enthusiast, and friend of Badger Trust! You may have seen some of Rachel’s incredible badger photography recently to promote Wild Isles, a series on the BBC narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
You may have also seen her work published by National Geographic, awarded in several prestigious competitions, or perhaps you just get your daily fix of awe-inspiring, and at times mind-boggling, wildlife images by following Rachel on Instagram. Rachel also breaks down barriers for women engaging in wildlife photography work, helping to make the industry more inclusive for all.
The brilliant Rachel is here to discuss her love of one of Britain’s most vilified and misunderstood mammals, the noble badger.
Read on to learn about responsible badger photography, how badger cubs respond to thunderstorms, and what a badger and a balloon have in common!
Join us for the first in a series of talks as we dig into the private, courageous lives of badgers.
First off Rachel, tell us about the first time you saw a badger and what that felt like.
I’d waited years to see my first badger, as, like so many, the only badgers I’d seen had been dead at the side of the road. My first encounter is somewhat of a blur, as it was like seeing your childhood hero or a TV star in the flesh. What I do remember is being star-struck by the king of the British jungle, a folklore icon, a real-life badger (and probably very tearful!).
You are now fortunate enough to see badgers regularly; tell us more about your badger clan and how it came to be that your badger family was on the recent BBC series Wild Isles narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
Despite running the risk of sounding arrogant, I can confidently tell you that I have private access to one of the best badger setts in the UK, if not the world. It is a triple threat! Firstly, it has bundles of badgers that emerge very early in the evening. Secondly, it has sunlight until the last moments of the day. Thirdly, every spring, it has a carpet of ancient, British bluebells.
So, of course, upon learning that there is a location in which all of these rarities combine so beautifully, effectively and effortlessly via my Instagram stories, it was a no-brainer for Silverback Films wanting to approach me for access.
How hard is it to get great photos of badgers, and is there a particular behaviour that you would love to capture that you haven’t managed to yet?
As with all wildlife photography, the trickiest aspects are the elements that are out of your control. Each day, I am hoping that a wild badger will emerge just at the right time for the sun to backlight its fur and, most importantly, to stand in the perfect place.
Of course, I’m asking for a miracle to happen, and more often than not, I leave disappointed. However, there have been a handful of occasions where the magic moment has happened, everything has come together, and I walk home with a spring in my step! With this in mind, I am often asking for the impossible. I fall asleep most nights dreaming of an image in my head that is sometimes not achievable, but I try regardless.
More realistically, allo-grooming is something that I would be happy to photograph and I would LOVE to photograph a badger of a different colour.
How many hours do you think you have spent watching badgers, and what have they taught you the most, both about badgers and about you?
Over the five years that I have been working with this clan, I cannot even begin to count the hours I have spent waiting and photographing. I average around four hours per day. In the bluebell season, I will do this consecutively for 20 days or more. My time, of course, varies with my work pattern, but last year I spent over 100 hours filming in just three weeks!
My time with badgers has most importantly taught me never to take a moment with them for granted. Only last year, I thought that the boar had succumbed to his fate. I was devastated. He was my favourite badger, a true champion of the species and incredibly photogenic. To my very emotional relief, he returned several months later.
I’m often asked why I keep coming back, and it is for that very reason. I have built such a deep-rooted connection to this clan, and for all the time that I am able, I want to make the most of my privilege to have a secret portal into their precious lives.
What I have learnt about myself over the five years is that I am creative, determined, passionate, dedicated, and disciplined, but very bad at sitting still for long periods of time!!
What is your strangest badger-related moment?
I’ve had several close encounters over the years. Sometimes the badger and I simply haven’t noticed each other and bump into one another behind a tree. Other times, badgers have scurried less than one metre from my feet. Whilst these would be strange for most people, they have become very normal for me.
My strangest badger-related moments are more audible… often in the spring when I can hear the bubbly, oestrous-enthused sounds of sows or the delicate squeaking of cubs!
Can you tell us a weird and wacky badger fact that we might not know?
Badgers can inflate their skin as a defensive mechanism to look bigger and scarier to predators!
You have strong ethics about being a responsible wildlife photographer. What advice would you give to other young photographers trying to navigate prioritising an animal's welfare over an image?
The temptation of chasing a ‘better’ shot can be overwhelming. As photographers, capturing the perfect shot is in our nature and sometimes, in an age where the popularity of social media is of great significance, bad ethics and a disregard for animal welfare are easily fuelled.
However, taking a step closer, baiting, tape luring, shouting for their attention and more will only cause the animal to run away from your camera in fear, and losing the trust of a wild animal is not in your best interest as a wildlife photographer. While it may take longer to achieve the shot ethically, you will achieve the shot.
Your captivating photographs can be used as a lens through which we can all become more environmentally aware. What is the key message that you would like us to know about badgers when we look at your photographs?
I photograph badgers with the aim of wanting people to say “aww” when they see my images. I want to help people fall in love with badgers through beautiful photography that portrays them as gentle, intelligent, pretty and social animals, and therefore evoke a desire or a passion to learn about or protect them.
Despite the necessary and critical role that badgers play for biodiversity health, they have faced a long history of persecution which continues to this day, most notably the government-led cull that has to date killed half of their population in England.
What is one thing you think we could all do more of to support the incredible role badgers play in maintaining healthy ecosystems?
There are two actions of equal importance that immediately spring to mind.
Firstly, we can all play our part by slowing down on our roads between dusk and dawn. There is no justification for ending a badger’s life to save time on our journey.
Secondly, we must all make space for badgers who have lived in our lands for half a million years. It was their home first, and we have no right to bar them from our gardens or wild places. We must coexist.
The badger is used to represent Hufflepuff House in Harry Potter, chosen for its loyalty to family and friends, ability to teach humans which plants are safe to eat, and to represent tenacity, courage, and endurance. All strong badger traits. Which animal would you have as your heraldic crest and why?
I would pick the Northern Fulmar! These ‘albatross of the north’ are free-spirited seabirds that voyage the ocean, dancing over waves and skimming every sunset. They are loyal and sociable birds, returning to the same nest site each year, but don’t allow themselves to be disrespected and spit a foul-smelling stomach oil at all who take advantage of their kind nature.
If there was one fact about badgers that you would want everyone to know, what would it be?
It would be that female badgers within a clan take it in turns to babysit the cubs, and have even been seen to protect the little ones from the scary sounds of thunder.
If this doesn’t represent their gentle and intelligent nature and spark a fire in your belly to save them from extinction, then I don’t know what will.
Find out more about Rachel Bigsby
Visit Rachel’s website for photography and news updates. Receive a free e-book ‘An Introduction to Wildlife Photography’ when you subscribe to Rachel’s e-newsletter: www.rachelbigsby.com
See more of Rachel’s stunning photography on Instagram @rachelbigsby
