We gasp when we think of some of the landowners of England who can trace their ancestors back to Norman times.

The badger, however, can trace its origins in Britain back to just after the last of several Ice Ages, around 8,000 years ago.

Long before Britain was an island badgers were rooting about among the vegetation of our earliest deciduous forests.

Badgers belong to a family of mammals called mustelids which have scent glands under their tails and which they use to mark territory.

In the same family are polecats, stoats, weasels, pine marten and the otter.

One look at a badger reveals that it is a cross between an animal and a bulldozer - the world’s best digger.

The front legs are huge and the neck muscles would do credit to a body builder.

The badger uses these formidable tools to construct its underground home which is called a sett.

These setts really are settlements (excuse the pun) because some have been in existence for more than one thousand years.

There can be as many as twenty separate entrances which look like large rabbit holes.

Badgers are good housekeepers, and within the sett are breeding chambers, living areas and sleeping chambers. These are lined with grass.

The badger carried the soiled grass to the sett entrance and dumps this and replaces it with fresh vegetation.

This clean habit prevents the build up of parasites which are always a problem for animals which occupy a home for a long period.

A look at the entrance of an occupied sett will reveal los of discarded bedding, whilst nearby is a traditional latrine.

Another sign to look for is to touch the sett entrance and nearby fences to find black and white hairs which are so typical to badgers.

Look also for nearby trees and there will be scratch marks on the bark at a height which can be reached by animals standing on their back legs.